The injustice of unsafe motherhood

Developing World Bioethics

Volumn 2, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 64-81

  Cook, Rebecca J ^a   Dickens, Bernard M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ABORTION; BLOOD DONOR; BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION; DEVELOPED COUNTRY; DEVELOPING COUNTRY; ECONOMIC ASPECT; ETHICS; FEMALE; HEALTH CARE ACCESS; HEALTH CARE SYSTEM; HUMAN; HUMAN RIGHTS; LAW; LEGAL ASPECT; MATERNAL MORBIDITY; MATERNAL MORTALITY; MORALITY; MOTHER; POLITICS; PRIORITY JOURNAL; PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE; RELIGION; REPRODUCTION; REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH; REVIEW; SEX DIFFERENCE; SOCIAL ASPECT; SOCIETY; SURVIVAL; UNSAFE MOTHERHOOD;

EID: 0038047666     PISSN: 14718731     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1471-8847.00036     Document Type: Review

References (65)

1. A. Starrs. 1998. The Safe Motherhood Action Agenda: Priorities for the Next Decade. New York. Family Care International: 1.
2. World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund and United Nations Population Fund. 2001. Maternal Mortality in 1995. Estimates Developed by WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA. Geneva. World Health Organization (WHO/RHR/01.9).
3. United Nations Population Fund. 1999. The State of the World Population 1999, 6 Billion: A Time for Choices. New York. UNFPA: 30.
4. A. Starrs, op. cit. note 1, p. 1.
5. See World Health Organization op. cit. note 2, and R.J. Cook et al. 2001. Advancing Safe Motherhood Through Human Rights. Geneva. World Health Organization: Appendix I, pp. 93-95.
6. See World Health Organization op. cit. note 2, and R.J. Cook et al. 2001. Advancing Safe Motherhood Through Human Rights. Geneva. World Health Organization: Appendix I, pp. 93-95.
7. In the US the black population has a relative risk of maternal death 4.3 times higher than the nonblack population: H.K. Atrash et al. Maternal Mortality in Developed Countries: Not Just a Concern of the Past. Obstetrics and Gynecology 1995; 86: 700-705.
8. See World Health Organization and R.J. Cook et al., op. cit. note 5.
9. See e.g. J. Kabeberi-Macharia. 1998. Reconstructing the Image of the Girl-Child. In Law, Culture, Tradition and Children's Rights in Eastern and Southern Africa. W. Ncube, ed. Aldershot. Ashgate/Dartmouth: 47-56 at 47.
10. For instance the Child Marriage Restraint Act in India sets the minimum age of marriage for girls at 18, but it has been recorded that about 50% of women enter their first union before their eighteenth birthday and almost 30% have their first child by age 18. See Alan Guttmacher Institute. 1998. Into a New World: Young Women's Sexual and Reproductive Lives. New York. AGI: 18.
11. Department of Women's Health, Family and Community Health, World Health Organization. 2000. A Systematic Review of the Health Complications of Female Genital Mutilation, including Sequelae in Childbirth. Geneva. World Health Organization (WHO/FCH/WMH/00.2): 48.
12. D. Maine et al. 1997. The Design and Evaluation of Maternal Mortality Programs. New York. Center for Population and Family Health, School of Public Health, Columbia University: 4.
13. W.J. Graham, J.S. Bell and C.H.W. Bullogh. 2001. Can Skilled Attendance at Delivery Reduce Maternal Mortality in Developing Countries? In Safe Motherhood Strategies: A Review of the Evidence. V. DeBrouwere and W. VanLerberghe, eds. Antwerp. ITG Press: 97-130.
14. See World Health Organization, Centre for Health Development, Kobe, Japan. 1996. Urbanization: A Global Health Challenge. Geneva. WHO (WHO/WCK/SYM/96.1).
15. See the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, Egypt 5-13 September 1994, para 8.25, in Report of the International Conference on Population and Development, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.171/13/Rev.1, U.N. Sales No. 95. XIII. 18 (1995).
16. See the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, Egypt 5-13 September 1994, para 8.25, in Report of the International Conference on Population and Development, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.171/13/Rev.1, U.N. Sales No. 95. XIII. 18 (1995).
17. L.O. Gostin. 2000. Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint. Berkeley, CA. University of California Press; New York. The Milbank Memorial Fund: 4.
18. Ibid. Preface: xxi.
19. S.M. Glick. Unlimited Human Autonomy A Cultural Bias? NEJM 1997; 336: 954-956 at 954.
20. Ibid. at 955.
21. J. Donne. 1624. Devotions upon Emergent Occasions-Meditation no. 17.
22. R.J. Cook. 2001. Advancing Safe Motherhood Through Human Rights. In Giving Meaning to Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. I. Merali and V. Oosterveld, eds. Philadelphia. University of Pennsylvania Press: 109-123 at 109.
23. R. Tong. 1996. Feminist Approaches to Bioethics. In Feminism and Bioethics: Beyond Reproduction. S.M. Wolf, ed. New York. Oxford University Press: 67-94.
24. J.M. Mann. Medicine and Public Health, Ethics and Human Rights. Hastings Center Report 1997; 27(3): 6-13.
25. Constitution of the World Health Organization, Preamble, para. 2.
26. J.C. d'Oronzio. The Integration of Health and Human Rights: An Appreciation of Jonathan M. Mann. Cambridge Q. Health Care Ethics 2001; 10: 231-240.
27. Ibid. at 231.
28. J.M. Mann, op. cit. note 22, at p. 7.
29. I b i d.
30. Ibid. at p. 8.
31. W.T. Reich. The 'Wider View': André Helleger's Passionate, Integrating Intellect and the Creation of Bioethics. Kennedy Institute of Ethics J 1999; 9: 25-51 at 37.
32. H.J. Berman. 1974. The Interaction of Law and Religion. New York. Abingdon Press: 58.
33. Ibid. at p. 61.
34. See for instance the UK Abortion Act 1967, in France the 1975 Law 75-17 and 1979 Law 79-1204, in Portugal the 1984 Law 6 of 11 May, and in Spain the 1985 Organic Law 9 of 5 July; see generally R.J. Cook and B.M. Dickens. A Decade of International Change in Abortion Law: 1967-77. Amer. J. Public Health 1978; 68: 637-644; R.J. Cook and B.M. Dickens. International Developments in Abortion Laws: 1977-88. Amer. J. Public Health 1988; 78: 1305-1311; R.J. Cook, B.M. Dickens and L.E. Bliss. International Developments in Abortion Law from 1988 to 1998. Amer. J. Public Health 1999; 89: 579-586.
35. See for instance the UK Abortion Act 1967, in France the 1975 Law 75-17 and 1979 Law 79-1204, in Portugal the 1984 Law 6 of 11 May, and in Spain the 1985 Organic Law 9 of 5 July; see generally R.J. Cook and B.M. Dickens. A Decade of International Change in Abortion Law: 1967-77. Amer. J. Public Health 1978; 68: 637-644; R.J. Cook and B.M. Dickens. International Developments in Abortion Laws: 1977-88. Amer. J. Public Health 1988; 78: 1305-1311; R.J. Cook, B.M. Dickens and L.E. Bliss. International Developments in Abortion Law from 1988 to 1998. Amer. J. Public Health 1999; 89: 579-586.
36. See for instance the UK Abortion Act 1967, in France the 1975 Law 75-17 and 1979 Law 79-1204, in Portugal the 1984 Law 6 of 11 May, and in Spain the 1985 Organic Law 9 of 5 July; see generally R.J. Cook and B.M. Dickens. A Decade of International Change in Abortion Law: 1967-77. Amer. J. Public Health 1978; 68: 637-644; R.J. Cook and B.M. Dickens. International Developments in Abortion Laws: 1977-88. Amer. J. Public Health 1988; 78: 1305-1311; R.J. Cook, B.M. Dickens and L.E. Bliss. International Developments in Abortion Law from 1988 to 1998. Amer. J. Public Health 1999; 89: 579-586.
37. See for instance the UK Abortion Act 1967, in France the 1975 Law 75-17 and 1979 Law 79-1204, in Portugal the 1984 Law 6 of 11 May, and in Spain the 1985 Organic Law 9 of 5 July; see generally R.J. Cook and B.M. Dickens. A Decade of International Change in Abortion Law: 1967-77. Amer. J. Public Health 1978; 68: 637-644; R.J. Cook and B.M. Dickens. International Developments in Abortion Laws: 1977-88. Amer. J. Public Health 1988; 78: 1305-1311; R.J. Cook, B.M. Dickens and L.E. Bliss. International Developments in Abortion Law from 1988 to 1998. Amer. J. Public Health 1999; 89: 579-586.
38. P.F. Thonneau. 2001. Maternal Mortality and Unsafe Abortion: A Heavy Burden for Developing Countries. In Safe Motherhood Strategies: A Review of the Evidence. V. DeBrouwere, W. VanLerberghe, eds. Antwerp. ITG Press: 151-173, at 151.
39. See internet http://www.seechange.org.
40. Op. cit. note 14, para 7.2.
41. D.P. Sulmasy, E.D. Pellegrino. The Rule of Double Effect: Clearing-up the Double Talk. Annals of Internal Medicine 1999; 159: 545.
42. Op. cit. note 5.
43. In India, abortion has been legally available through medical practitioners on liberal grounds since 1972, but subject to cumbersome conditions; of the estimated 6.7 million abortions in India each year, about 4 million are performed by non-physicians, primarily using drugs, indigenous methods and insertion of objects into the uterus. An estimated 15-20,000 abortion-related deaths occur each year. See A. Starrs, op. cit. note 1, p. 57.
44. Op. cit. note 14, para 8.25.
45. United Nations. 1995. Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women. New York. UN: para 97.
46. Op. cit. notes 2 and 5.
47. A. Jenkins. 1961. Law for the Rich: A Plea for the Reform of the Abortion Law. London. Victor Gollancz.
48. M.F. Fathalla. 1997. From Obstetrics and Gynecology to Women's Health: The Road Ahead. New York. Parthenon: 238.
49. Post-coital contraception, within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse or of malfunction of pre-coital means.
50. M.F. Fathalla, op. cit. note 43, p. 239.
51. United Nations, op. cit. note 40, at paras 114, 132 and 135.
52. See Finalized Draft Text of the Elements of Crimes, Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court, UN Doc. PCNICC/2000/ INF/3/Add.2(2000).
53. K.D. Askin. 1997. War Crimes Against Women: Prosecution in International War Crimes Tribunals. The Hague, Netherlands. Kluwer Law International.
54. Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. 1998. U.N. Doc. A/ CONF. 183/9, Articles 7 and 8.
55. The 1960 Penal Code of Jordan, article 340, No. 16 has been translated to provide 'He who discovers his wife or one of his female unlawfuls committing adultery with another, and he kills, wounds or injures one or both of them is exempt from any penalty'; see The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy. 2000. Reproductive Rights 2000: Moving Forward. New York. CRLP: 47.
56. The Penal Code of Syria, article 548, has been translated to provide 'He who catches his wife or one of his ascendants, descendants or sister committing adultery or illegitimate sexual acts with another and he killed or injured one or both of them benefits from an exemption of penalty'; ibid.
57. See e.g. Asia Watch, Women's Rights Project. 1992. Double Jeopardy: Police Abuse of Women in Pakistan. New York. Human Rights Watch.
58. It has been estimated for instance from Peru that only 72 cases of sexual abuse are reported of the 360 that occur each day and that 60% of pregnancies among 12 to 14 year old girls result from rape by family members or persons close to the victims; S. Tuesta. 2000. The Search for Justice. Lima. Movimiento Manuela Ramos: 5. The US Department of Justice reported that there were 330,088 rapes and sexual assaults in 1998 on victims aged 12 and above, the 12-19 age group suffering twice as many as victims aged over 25; F. McLellan. US Paediatricians Advised to Ask About Sexual Assault. The Lancet 2001; 357: 1951.
59. It has been estimated for instance from Peru that only 72 cases of sexual abuse are reported of the 360 that occur each day and that 60% of pregnancies among 12 to 14 year old girls result from rape by family members or persons close to the victims; S. Tuesta. 2000. The Search for Justice. Lima. Movimiento Manuela Ramos: 5. The US Department of Justice reported that there were 330,088 rapes and sexual assaults in 1998 on victims aged 12 and above, the 12-19 age group suffering twice as many as victims aged over 25; F. McLellan. US Paediatricians Advised to Ask About Sexual Assault. The Lancet 2001; 357: 1951.
60. Op. cit. note 22, p. 8.
61. See I. Brownlie, ed. 1992. Basic Documents on Human Rights (3rd edition). Oxford. Clarendon Press: 117. See also J. Stanchieri, I. Merali and R.J. Cook. 2000. The Application of Human Rights to Reproductive and Sexual Health, http:// www.acpd.ca/compilation.
62. See I. Brownlie, ed. 1992. Basic Documents on Human Rights (3rd edition). Oxford. Clarendon Press: 117. See also J. Stanchieri, I. Merali and R.J. Cook. 2000. The Application of Human Rights to Reproductive and Sexual Health, http:// www.acpd.ca/compilation.
63. I. Brownlie, ibid., p. 26.
64. See World Health Organization. 1995. Mother-Baby Package: Implementing Safe Motherhood in Countries. Geneva. WHO (WHO/FHE/MSM/94.11).
65. Op. cit. note 1.