K.H. and Others v. Slovakia
Country: SlovakiaYear: 2009
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: App. No. 32881/04, 49 Eur. Ct. H.R. 34 (2009).
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health information, Health systems and financing, Hospitals, Informed consent, Medical malpractice, Poverty, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Right of access to information, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to family life
The eight applicants were women of Roma ethnicity, who suspected that they had been sterilized during caesarian section deliveries at two different hospitals. The applicants obtained legal representation, who attempted to examine and obtain copies of their medical records. These requests were denied by the hospitals. The applicants then brought actions against the hospitals in …Read more
Women on Waves and Others v. Portugal
Country: PortugalYear: 2009
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 31276/05
Health Topics: Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Freedom of association, Freedom of expression
In 2004, three associations sent the ship Borndiep to Portugal where abortion was illegal that would stage activities promoting the decriminalization of abortion including distribution of drugs that can induce abortion. Aware of the project, the Portuguese Government prevented the boat from entering its national territory. The three plaintiffs sued Portugal in national courts, which …Read more
Yearworth v. North Bristol NHS Trust
Country: United KingdomYear: 2009
Court: Court of Appeal, Civil Division
Citation: [2009] EWCA Civ 37
Health Topics: Chronic and noncommunicable diseases, Hospitals, Medical malpractice, Mental health, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Right to bodily integrity, Right to property
Six men appealed the decision of the Exeter County Court that denied recovery in tort for the damage of their sperm held in frozen storage at a facility run by the North Bristol NHS Trust (the “Trust”). All six of the men were diagnosed with cancer and were advised that chemotherapy was the appropriate treatment. …Read more
Case 146/2007 and its cumulative 147/2007
Country: MexicoYear: 2008
Court: Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación [Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation]
Citation: Acción de Inconstitucionalidad 146/2007 y su acumulada 147/2007
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Health care and health services, Informed consent, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Right to bodily integrity, Right to family life, Right to health, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to life
Please note that only portions of the original judgment have been translated into English. This summary is primarily written from those portions. The Federal District legislature approved reforms to the Criminal Code of the Federal District in which it decriminalized and legalized abortion performed during the first 12 weeks of gestation. It also amended the …Read more
Gómez Arambula, Carlos Humberto v. Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia deMedicamentos y Alimentos INVIMA
Country: ColombiaYear: 2008
Court: Higher Court on Administrative Law, Chamber of Administrative Litigation
Citation: Case File No. 11001-03-24-000-2002-00251-01
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Medicines, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Right to life
A Colombian citizen challenged before the Supreme Administrative Court the constitutionality of an administrative decision that allowed the Asociación Probienestar de la Familia Colombiana PROFAMILIA to import and distribute the emergency contraception pill Postinor 2. The petitioner argued that the drug suppressed life in its initial stages, acting as an abortive and therefore violating the …Read more
Evans v. United Kingdom
Country: United KingdomYear: 2007
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Evans v. United Kingdom [GC], App. No. 6339/05, 46 Eur. H.R. Rep. 34 (2008).
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Medicines, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Right to family life, Right to life
Applicant had her eggs extracted for the purposes of in vitro fertilization in 2001. Her ovaries were thereafter removed due to the presence of tumors. Six embryos were created using her eggs and the sperm of her partner ‘J.’. Schedule 3 of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act of 1990 allowed for the withdrawal of …Read more
Case C-355/06
Country: ColombiaYear: 2006
Court: Corte Constitucional [Constitutional Court]
Citation: Sentencia C-355/06
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Health systems and financing, Mental health, Poverty, Sexual and reproductive health, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity, Right to development, Right to health, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to life
Women petitioners brought a tutela action (appeal for legal protection) requesting that the Court declare unconstitutional particular provisions of the Penal Code (Articles 122 (criminalized abortion), 123 (criminalized abortion without consent), and 124 (mitigating circumstances)) that criminalized abortion, claiming that, first, the doctrine of res judicata did not apply to them with regards to previous decisions …Read more
Chávez Alvarado, Susana y otras v. el Ministerio de Salud
Country: PeruYear: 2006
Court: Constitutional Court of Peru
Citation: Tribunal Constitucional [Constitutional Court] Nov. 13, 2006, Sentencia 7435-2006-PC/TC (Peru).
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health information, Health systems and financing, Medicines, Poverty, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Right of access to information, Right to bodily integrity, Right to family life, Right to health, Right to life
In 2001, Peru’s Department of Health approved the emergency oral contraceptive and resolved to provide it at no charge throughout the nation. Following cases of repeated noncompliance with this resolution, plaintiffs initiated this legal action to enforce compliance. Specifically, the petitioners asserted that the mandates whose compliance they were demanding were: (1) To ensure a …Read more
Falcón, María Liliana v. Hospital Vidal
Country: ArgentinaYear: 2006
Court: Superior Provincial Court of Justice in the Province of Corrientes [Superior Tribunal de Justicia de Corrientes]
Citation: Falcon Maria Liliana c/ Hospital Vidal de la ciudad de Corrientes y/o Ministerio de Salud Publia de Corrientes y/o Estado de la Provincia Decorrientes s/ Amparo, Expediente Nº 25438/05, Superior Tribunal de Justicia de Corrientes (STJ Ctes.)(Superior Tribunal of Justice: highest provincial court in the province of Corrientes), 12/4/2006 (Arg.).
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health systems and financing, Informed consent, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Right to bodily integrity, Right to family life, Right to health, Right to liberty and security of person
Falcon María Liliana filed anguarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against a hospital in Argentina for refusing to perform a sterilization procedure during the birth of her seventh child. The plaintiff had requested doctors to perform a ligation of her Fallopian tubes, and/or any other necessary procedure, during a planned caesarean section …Read more
Pramod Bhagwan Nayak v. State of Gujarat
Country: IndiaYear: 2006
Court: High Court - Gujarat
Citation: (2007) 1 GLR 796
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Health care and health services, HIV/AIDS, Infectious diseases, Poverty, Prisons, Public safety, Sexual and reproductive health, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to family life, Right to health, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to life, Right to privacy
The petitioner was challenging an order of detention for allegedly engaging in trafficking of women and girls. The grounds of the order were that petitioner was an “immoral traffic offender” which is “a person who habitually commits or abets the commission of any offence under the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, …Read more