Conscientious Objection to Abortion and Accommodating Women's Reproductive Health Rights

Reflections on a Decision of the Constitutional Court of Colombia from an African Regional Human Rights Perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID16767922
AuthorsCharles Ngwena (0000-0002-4482-6707, Lahore Leads University, corresponding author), Charles G Ngwena
Year2014
Volume58
Issue2
Pages183-209
Publication date2014-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of African Law (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0221-8553 • E-ISSN: 1464-3731
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/s0021855314000114
OpenAlexW2155048460
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited30

If applied in isolation from the fundamental rights of women seeking abortion services, the right to conscientious objection can render any given rights to abortion illusory, including the rights to health, life, equality and dignity that are attendant to abortion. A transformative understanding of human rights requires that the right to conscientious objection to abortion be construed in a manner that is subject to the correlative duties which are imposed on the conscientious objector, as well as the state, in order to accommodate women's reproductive health rights. In recent years, the Colombian Constitutional Court has been giving a judicial lead on the development of a right to conscientious objection that accommodates women's fundamental rights. This article reflects on one of the court's decisions and draws lessons for the African region

Abortion · Bodily integrity · Conscientious objector · Constitution · Constitutional court · Dignity · Fundamental rights · Human rights · Political science · Population · Pregnancy · Reproductive health · Reproductive rights · Sociology · Corporate Law and Human Rights · Human Rights and Development · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law

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