The Applicant, Sue Axon, alleged that the Family Planning Association violated the rights of parents under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (right to respect for private and family life). The Association provided confidential advice and treatment regarding contraception, sexually transmitted infections and abortion to persons under the age of sixteen …Read more

The case involved two petitions that required the Constitutional Court to examine certain elements that imposed regulations on sterilization. The first petitioner challenged the constitutionality of the Minister of Health Decree 12/1987 (VIII. 19.) EüM on Sterilization (hereinafter “D1”), which imposed certain restrictions (related to age and number of prior blood children) on a person …Read more

The League of Housewives, Consumers and Users of Argentina [Liga de Amas de Casa, Consumidores y Usuarios de la República Argentina] requested that judiciary declare that articles 5 and 7 of Act 418 and its amendment 439 of the City of Buenos Aires were contrary to the National Constitution. The Plaintiff alleged that under the …Read more

The plaintiff, a non profit organization that defended the life of children, filed a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against the National Ministry of Health and Social Service calling for the prohibition of the manufacture and distribution of an emergency contraceptive pill called “Inmediat” for its alleged “abortive effects”. The First …Read more

This case concerned the impact of Hungary’s constitutional guarantee of the right to life on its parliament’s ability to pass abortion laws. Petitioners submitted that Hungary’s Act LXXIX/1992 on the Protection of Foetal Life (“the Act”), regarding permissible abortion, was unconstitutional. The Act allowed a pregnant woman to have an abortion if she was “in …Read more

The parents of a mentally-disabled woman requested that the court authorize the sterilization of their daughter.  According to the Article 428 of the Criminal Code made in accordance with Article 6 LO 3/89 of 21 June (the “challenged provision”), sterilization of a disabled person who suffered from serious psychological deficiency would not be unlawful if the …Read more

F was a 36 year old adult woman who suffered from a disability that left her with the mental capacity of a young child.  She had been a voluntary in-patient at a mental hospital since the age of 14, where she received treatment and enjoyed a great degree of freedom of movement. Although the facility …Read more

The Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) issued a memorandum of guidance to local health authorities that stated that, inter alia, “consultations between doctors and patients are confidential,” even for children less than 16. The memorandum noted that while “it would be most unusual,” a doctor could advise the child regarding contraception without parental …Read more

The Respondent, Population Planning Associates (PPA) was a corporation primarily engaged in the mail-order retail sale of nonmedical contraceptive devices. PPA regularly advertised its products in periodicals, and accepted and filled orders by mailing contraceptives to purchasers. The advertisements and order forms did not limit the availability of PPA’s products to persons of any particular …Read more

The Respondent was convicted under chapter 272 of the Massachusetts General Laws (Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order) (the Act) for exhibiting contraceptive articles while presenting a lecture on contraception to a group of university students, and for providing a contraceptive article to a young woman after the lecture. Section 21 of the …Read more