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This article explores the effectiveness of the decision of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in the case of Alyne da Silva Pimentel Teixeira (deceased) v. Brazil, concerning a poor, Afro-Brazilian woman. This is the first decision of an international human rights treaty body to hold a state accountable for its failure to prevent an avoidable death in childbirth. Assessing the future effectiveness of this decision might be undertaken concretely by determining the degree of Brazil's actual compliance with the Committee's recommendations, and how this decision influences pending domestic litigation arising from the maternal death. Alternative approaches include: determining whether, over time, the decision leads to the elimination of discrimination against women of poor, minority racial status in the health sector, and if it narrows the wide gap between rates of maternal mortality of poor, Afro-Brazilian women and the country's general female population. Determining the effectiveness of this decision will guide whether to pursue a more general strategy of judicializing maternal mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Conscientious commitment, the reverse of conscientious objection, inspires healthcare providers to overcome barriers to delivery of reproductive services to protect and advance women''s health. History shows social reformers experiencing religious condemnation and imprisonment for promoting means of birth control, until access became popularly accepted. Voluntary sterilization generally followed this pattern to acceptance, but overcoming resistance to voluntary abortion calls for courage and remains challenging. The challenge is aggravated by religious doctrines that view treatment of ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, and emergency contraception not by reference to women''s healthcare needs, but through the lens of abortion. However, modern legal systems increasingly reject this myopic approach. Providers’ conscientious commitment is to deliver treatments directed to women''s healthcare needs, giving priority to patient care over adherence to conservative religious doctrines or religious self-interest. The development of in vitro fertilization to address childlessness further illustrates the inspiration of conscientious commitment over conservative objections. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

El artículo discute las reformas constitucionales estatales de protección a la vida prenatal en México, así como sus implicaciones prácticas en tanto norma constitucional. La autora aboga por leyes que no solo protejan la vida prenatal sino que sirvan al desarrollo de la vida familiar, sin poner límites a la posibilidad de escogencia tanto individual como del núcleo familiar.

Abstract: Since the 1994 Cairo Conference on Population and Development, the human rights movement has embraced the concept of reproductive rights. These are often pursued, however, by means to which objection is taken. Some conservative political and religious forces continue to resist implementation of several means of protecting and advancing reproductive rights. Individuals'' rights to grant and to deny consent to medical procedures affecting their reproductive health and confidentiality have been progressively advanced. However, access to contraceptive services, while not necessarily opposed, is unjustifiably obstructed in some settings. Rights to lawful abortion have been considerably liberalized by legislative and judicial decisions, although resistance remains. Courts are increasingly requiring that lawful services be accommodated under transparent conditions of access and of legal protection. The conflict between rights of resort to lawful reproductive health services and to conscientious objection to participation is resolved by legal duties to refer patients to non-objecting providers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Constitutional Court of Colombia has issued a decision of international significance clarifying legal duties of providers, hospitals, and healthcare systems when conscientious objection is made to conducting lawful abortion. The decision establishes objecting providers'' duties to refer patients to non-objecting providers, and that hospitals, clinics, and other institutions have no rights of conscientious objection. Their professional and legal duties are to ensure that patients receive timely services. Hospitals and other administrators cannot object, because they do not participate in the procedures they are obliged to arrange. Objecting providers, and hospitals, must maintain knowledge of non-objecting providers to whom their patients must be referred. Accordingly, medical schools must adequately train, and licensing authorities approve, non-objecting providers. Where they are unavailable, midwives and perhaps nurse practitioners may be trained, equipped, and approved for appropriate service delivery. The Court''s decision has widespread implications for how healthcare systems must accommodate conscientious objection and patients'' legal rights. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: About a third of anencephalic fetuses are born alive, but they are not conscious or viable, and soon die. This neural tube defect can be limited by dietary consumption of foliates, and detected prenatally by ultrasound and other means. Many laws permit abortion, on this indication or on the effects of pregnancy and prospects of delivery on a woman''s physical or mental health. However, abortion is limited under some legal systems, particularly in South America. To avoid criminal liability, physicians will not terminate pregnancies, by induced birth or abortion, without prior judicial approval. Argentinian courts have developed means to resolve these cases, but responses of Brazilian courts are less clear. Ethical concerns relate to late-term abortion, meaning after the point of fetal viability, but since anencephalic fetuses are nonviable, many ethical concerns are overcome. Professional guidance is provided by several professional and institutional codes on management of anencephalic pregnancies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Discusses the challenge of applying human rights to advance safe motherhood. Description of reproductive health risks as injustices that societies are obligated to remedy; Threats presented by health reforms to conventional practices and value systems; Related conditions to the advancement of safe motherhood through human rights.

The article discusses right of Canadian women to have access to safe, effective and preferred method of early abortion based on the internationally-recognized standard of combined mifepristone and misoprostol. In contrast to abortion-related services to women in Europe and the U.S., Canadian women use the cytotoxic drug methotrexate. The World Health Organization (WHO) does not recommend methotrexate because it can cause serious deformities in the infant if the abortion fails.

The article reports on a study of the high prevalence of induced abortions among women with age ranging from 18-29 years old in Peru. It founds out that laws which limit the access to abortion services in Peru did not decrease the number of abortions, instead they only promote safety of the services. It demonstrated that the prevalence of abortion in Peru is higher than the prevalence in many countries where abortion services are legally available. It also suggested that the government of Peru is obliged to ensure that women have transparent access to abortion counseling and services where they are legal regardless their age and other socio-demographic factors.

In this article the authors discuss updates which the World Health Organization (WHO) made in 2012 to its 2003 publication "Safe Abortion: Technical and Policy Guidance for Health Systems". They are supportive of the updates and suggest that by updating its guidelines on safe abortion the WHO has responded to a neglected public health need of women.