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Abstract #159675

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Beth E. Rivin, MD, MPH, School of Law, The University of Washington and Uplift International, 4010 Stone Way North, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98103, 206-985-9888, brivin@u.washington.edu and Roslyn J. Solomon, JD, Uplift International, 4010 Stone Way Avenue North, Ste. 200, Seattle, WA 98103.

Seventy thousand women around the world die each year from illegal abortions. Illegal abortions disproportionately impact poor women globally. The U.S. protection of women's access to safe and comprehensive abortion care has been steadily eroded since 1973 and continues to be on tenuous ground, legally. The legal basis for women's access to abortion services is the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade (1973), which defined the issue as a privacy issue. However, we argue that safe, comprehensive and legal abortion in the U.S. should not be based on the concept of privacy, but instead should be based on the international human right to health and the rights of women to reproductive information and services. The concept of privacy has not withstood time due to restrictions on access to abortion through gag rules, cuts in government funding, limits on family planning education and parental notice requirements. International Human Rights Law provides guidance for health and abortion rights in the U.S. Although the current U.S. Administration is generally hostile to international and human rights law, that has not always been so. After World War II, the U.S. was critical in shaping international human rights law. For women's health rights we look to the UDHR, ICESCR and CEDAW. Uplift International is a Seattle-based NGO that is advocating for the use of international human rights norms and standards to protect women's reproductive health, including abortion services. This shifts the dialogue about abortion from a privacy issue to an issue about women's health rights.

Learning Objectives:

• By the end of the session, participants will be able to understand the international human rights law that pertains to reproductive rights of women and access to safe abortion
• By the end of the session, participants will be able to understand that the U.S. protection of abortion is based on the Roe v Wade decision about privacy
• By the end of the session, the participants will be able to name at least one organization that is working to increase awareness of the fundamental human right to reproductive health, including abortion, in the U.S. and changing the dialogue about abortion from a privacy issue to a health issue.

Keywords: Abortion, Human Rights

Related Web page: www.upliftinternational.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Slides (pdf) or Handout