Nicholas Toonen was a gay man, HIV/AIDS activist, and LGBT rights activist living in Tasmania. Tasmania criminalized same-sex sexual conduct among men under ss 122 and 123 its criminal code; it was the last remaining state or territory of Australia to do so, the remainder having repealed such laws. Toonen brought a communication before the …Read more

Women inmates in the District of Columbia (D.C.) correctional system alleged that they were being mistreated in a variety of ways, including sexual harassment, failure to provide or inadequate levels of obstetrical and gynecological care, unequal educational and work-related programming  as compared to similarly situated male inmates, uneven recreational and religious time, and general inhumane …Read more

Mr. Bland was in the care of the health authority, and had been in a persistent vegetative state for three and a half years due to a severe crushed chest injury, which had caused devastating and permanent damage to the higher functions of his brain. He was being fed artificially by a tube inserted through …Read more

The Appellant was employed by the Zambian Government as an accountant with the Ministry of Legal Affairs.  Upon recommendation for further evaluation of his medical condition he travelled to the United Kingdom where he underwent elective heart surgery.  He then claimed reimbursement of his medical expenses from his employer under the Conditions of Service for …Read more

The plaintiff filed a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against the National Social Security Agency [Administración Nacional de la Seguridad Social- ANSES]. The plaintiff claimed that her right to life and health was threatened by the Administration, because they didn’t pay her pension in time and therefore she couldn’t access medical …Read more

Section 251(4) of the Criminal Code of Canada (the Code) permitted abortions to be performed only at accredited hospitals and then with approval from the performing hospital’s therapeutic abortion committee. Drs. Morgentaler, Smoling, and Scott had together established an abortion clinic in Toronto to perform abortions not approved by a therapeutic abortion committee.  Following public …Read more

The Petitioner, a Colombian national living with HIV, filed an appeal for legal protection against the Colombian Social Security Institute. The Petitioner claimed that his right to medical services was threatened when a doctor at the Cali Social Security Institute informed him that his treatment would cease in 30 days. However, medical directors at the …Read more

The Applicants were two Irish companies that provided counseling to pregnant women, Open Door Counselling Ltd. and Dublin Well Woman Centre Ltd.; two counselors who worked for Dublin Well Woman, Bonnie Maher and Ann Downes; and two women of childbearing age, Mrs. X and Mrs. Geraghty. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children brought …Read more

Planned Parenthood brought suit challenging the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1982 (the Act) in federal court on constitutional grounds. The Act included the following requirements for women seeking an abortion in Pennsylvania: A woman seeking an abortion must give her informed consent prior to the abortion procedure, and she must provide certain information at …Read more

Petitioner, physician Michael Burditt, appealed a $20,000 civil penalty determination made by respondent, the Executive Appeals Board of Department of Health and Human Services, for the petitioner’s violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). On December 5, 1986 at 4:00pm, Ms. Rosa Rivera arrived at the emergency room of DeTar Hospital …Read more