Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Abortion in International Law

At Opinio Juris, Peter Spiro writes:

Meanwhile, 74 House lawmakers have sent a letter to Amnesty International USA urging it to oppose a proposed AI policy deeming abortion to be a human right in limited circumstances. (That's an interesting turn of the table: legislators lobbying NGOs, rather than the other way around.) See the respectful acknowledgment by AIUSA here. The matter will be taken up at an AI summit this summer in Mexico City. Of course there are now also international NGOs (leaving the Vatican aside) pressing a pro-life agenda as well.

One could imagine that over the next twenty years or so there will emerge an international norm protecting a right to abortion in some cases, which is not of course to say that it will be an easy agenda to advance.

I suppose that last bit is possible if he is referring to a right to an abortion in the case of the mother's health. On the other hand, one could also imagine that over the next twenty years or so there will emerge an international norm protecting a right to life in certain cases. (Also, one could imagine that the concept of "international norm" would become important and relevant.)

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