COERCED STERILIZATION AS A REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS VIOLATION

Sterilization of mentally retarded persons: reproductive rights and family privacy.

Sterilization is one of the most frequently chosen forms of contraception in the world;1 many persons who do not want to have children select this simple, safe, and effective means of avoiding unwanted pregnancy. For individuals who are mentally disabled, however, sterilization has more ominous associations. Until recently, involuntary sterilization was used as a weapon of the state in the war ...

Circumcision of male infants as a human rights violation.

Every infant has a right to bodily integrity. Removing healthy tissue from an infant is only permissible if there is an immediate medical indication. In the case of infant male circumcision there is no evidence of an immediate need to perform the procedure. As a German court recently held, any benefit to circumcision can be obtained by delaying the procedure until the male is old enough to give...

The sterilization rights of mental retardates.

Gender, Reproductive Health, and Reproductive Rights

Introduction A gender perspective is an integral part of the reproductive health approach to population activities. Fundamental to the Cairo Programme of Action (POA) is the underlying principle which places women’s needs at the centre of population and development concerns. This includes the right of women to make autonomous reproductive choices and the right to high quality services which are...

Vaccination--collective Responsibility or Violation of Rights?

Vaccination is considered to be the most effective and the cheapest medical intervention through which individual and collective immunisation is achieved. Statistics show that, at present, immunisation annually saves 400 million lives and protects approximately 750,000 children against disabilities of varying degrees. Approximately 80% of worldwide children are vaccinated against diphtheria, te...