Society's Influence On Abortion And Human Rights

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The debate on abortion remains intense and most disputed all over the world throughout time. While affected by various issues, the abortion debate is highly influenced by society and the respective cultures, religions and politics which play a significant role in its making up. Abortion has been discoursed in different perspectives but the emergence of the human rights debate in view of abortion has been and continues to be prevalent. Resultantly, human rights have been central to the developments and changes in abortion law worldwide as influenced by international bodies. Despite such developments and changes in view of legalising abortion, or where already legal, extending the circumstances in which it could be resorted to, certain countries …show more content…

Malta adopted the PoA but worked together with other Member States to ensure the respect to sovereign authority to protect life. In an article assessing the impact of the UN on national abortion laws, Kelsey Zorzi recounts how abortion activists have attempted to use the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) to expand and redefine abortion and undermine States’ sovereign right to limit or completely outlaw abortion while ignoring the qualifiers designed to limit it. Such interpretations have led to significant impact on the global development of abortion law despite lacking the force of international law and qualifiers protecting pro-life Member States. Since 1994, the UN has promoted liberal abortion laws through prominent mechanisms including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Women, and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Although no international human rights treaty explicitly mentions abortion, several signatory nations have interpreted a requirement of legalised abortion as implied by the rights addressed in treaties which include; the rights to health care, life, non-discrimination, equality, security, liberty, privacy and religion, along with the right to be free from cruel and inhuman treatment. The fact that international human rights treaties do not specify what marks the beginning of life further grants legitimacy to the argument. Such interpretation has become influential, subsequently diminishing the influence of the actual text of treaties, which has had an impact on how national legislatures confront abortion. Treaty monitoring bodies including the Human Rights Committee (HRC) and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination