Here to Stay: The Evolution of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in International Human Rights Law
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. The Population Control Paradigm: From the 1954 Population Conference to the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development
2.1. First Population Conferences: SRHR as the Domain of Demographers
2.2. The Bucharest Population Conference and Beyond: A New Model Arises
2.3. The Indivisibility of Human Rights
3. “Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights”: The Human Rights Paradigm
3.1. International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo (1994): The Interplay of Already Recognized Human Rights
3.1.1. The ICPD Consensus
3.1.2. The Holy See, the Unholy Alliance, and Its Role in the ICPD
3.1.3. The Role of the Already Recognized Human Rights in the Elaboration of SRHR
3.2. The Cairo Compromise
3.3. The Fourth World Conference on Women (1995), the Beijing Declaration, and the Platform for Action: Reinforcing Decisional Autonomy and Incorporating Sexual Rights
4. The Post-ICPD Fragmentation Era
4.1. The UN Development Agenda and SRHR: The Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals
4.2. Defining State Obligations: General Comment 22 on the Right to Sexual and Reproductive Health and the Draft General Comment 33 on the Right to Life
UN Human Rights Committee’s (HRC) Upcoming General Comment on the Right to Life
5. Perspectives for the Future?: Final Remarks
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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1 | The first paragraph of Ehrlich’s work reads as follows: “The battle to feed all of humanity is over …. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate ...” (Ehrlich 1968). |
2 | The Population Division of the UN and the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population organized two previous population conferences (Rome (1954) and Belgrade (1965)), but these were meetings of experts in demography and related disciplines and not meetings of representatives of governments. |
3 | Various scholars, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and official delegations considered that its position at the UN should be revised as it does not behave as a state but as a religion, thereby having a position that other religions do not enjoy. See for example Kissling and Shannon (1996). |
4 | The Holy See’s Statement expressing its reservations to the ICPD PoA reads as follow “Regarding the terms ‘sexual health’ and ‘sexual rights’, and ‘reproductive health’ and ‘reproductive rights’, the Holy See considers these terms as applying to a holistic concept of health, which embrace, each in their own way, the person in the entirety of his or her personality, mind and body, and which foster the achievement of personal maturity in sexuality and in the mutual love and decision-making that characterize the conjugal relationship in accordance with moral norms” (UN International Conference on Population and Development 1994a). |
5 | For a more extensive analysis, see United Nations Population Fund et al. (2014), Center for Reproductive Rights (2009). |
6 | Target 5B was belatedly added to the Millenium Development Goals in 2005, and the indicators for this target were officially established in 2007. See United National General Assembly (2005). |
7 | United Nations, Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, contains Goal 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages) and Goal 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls). |
8 | The General Comment refers to General Comment 14: the right to the highest attainable standard of health (Art. 12 of the Covenant) (2000) § 2, 8, 11, 16, 21, 23, 34 ,and 36. GC 22 uses the following documents as examples: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), Article 12; Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), Articles 17, 23–25, and 27; and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), Articles 23 and 25; see also the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) General Recommendation No. 24: Women and Health (1999), paras 11, 14, 18, 23, 26, 29, 31(b); and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General Comment 15: the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health (2013). |
9 | The diplomatic engagement of the Holy See in debates concerning sexual and reproductive health rights has increased from an average of two (2.3) statements per year during the period of 2003–2009 to an average of nine (8.75) statements per year during 2010–2013. |
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Berro Pizzarossa, L. Here to Stay: The Evolution of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in International Human Rights Law. Laws 2018, 7, 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws7030029
Berro Pizzarossa L. Here to Stay: The Evolution of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in International Human Rights Law. Laws. 2018; 7(3):29. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws7030029
Chicago/Turabian StyleBerro Pizzarossa, Lucía. 2018. "Here to Stay: The Evolution of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in International Human Rights Law" Laws 7, no. 3: 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws7030029