A/66/254
Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of
everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of physical and mental health
Summary
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health considers
the interaction between criminal laws and other legal restrictions relating to sexual
and reproductive health and the right to health. The right to sexual and reproductive
health is a fundamental part of the right to health. States must therefore ensure that
this aspect of the right to health is fully realized.
The Special Rapporteur considers the impact of criminal and other legal
restrictions on abortion; conduct during pregnancy; contraception and family
planning; and the provision of sexual and reproductive education and information.
Some criminal and other legal restrictions in each of those areas, which are often
discriminatory in nature, violate the right to health by restricting access to quality
goods, services and information. They infringe human dignity by restricting the
freedoms to which individuals are entitled under the right to health, particularly in
respect of decision-making and bodily integrity. Moreover, the application of such
laws as a means to achieving certain public health outcomes is often ineffective and
disproportionate.
Realization of the right to health requires the removal of barriers that interfere
with individual decision-making on health-related issues and with access to health
services, education and information, in particular on health conditions that only
affect women and girls. In cases where a barrier is created by a criminal law or other
legal restriction, it is the obligation of the State to remove it. The removal of such
laws and legal restrictions is not subject to resource constraints and can thus not be
seen as requiring only progressive realization. Barriers arising from criminal laws
and other laws and policies affecting sexual and reproductive health must therefore
be immediately removed in order to ensure full enjoyment of the right to health.
Contents
Page
I.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
II.
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
III.
International human rights law and the right to sexual and reproductive health . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
IV.
Criminal laws and other legal restriction affecting the right to sexual and reproductive health
6
Impact of criminal laws and other legal restrictions on sexual and reproductive health . . . . . .
7
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
V.
2
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