In August 1998, Maja Šubašić, a Croatian national, gave birth prematurely to twin girls while visiting Athens. As a result, her daughters had to be hospitalized in Athens for three months. In October, the Croatian Health Insurance Fund reimbursed Mrs. Šubašić for the costs of her own medical treatment. In April 1999, however, the Fund …Read more

25-year-old Petitioner brought a legal protection action before the Municipal Court of Santa Rosa de Osos against Coomeva EPS for refusing to cover the labiaplasty surgery prescribed by her doctor to treat her condition, labia minora hypertrophy.  Petitioner was unable to fully cover the procedure and therefore, claimed that the denial of coverage constituted a …Read more

Indigenous community Xákmok Kásek brought an action against the government of Paraguay before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for failure to meet its international responsibility of timely granting the community members’ request in 1990 for a guarantee of their right to their ancestral lands. Because the government had failed to process their request, the …Read more

The applicant ASBL is an activist organization dedicated to the promotion of respect for human life and integrity of the person at every stage of development. The applicant group sought to annul Article 3 of a December 2008 law that allowed a wide range of human bodily material to be obtained and used for the …Read more

Three applicants, two Irish nationals and one Lithuanian national, travelled to the United Kingdom in 2005 to have an abortion, each applicant believing they were not entitled to an abortion in Ireland. The first applicant decided to have an abortion to avoid jeopardizing her chances of reuniting her four previous children who were in foster …Read more

The QPC (Question prioritaire de constitutionnalité) process was created in France in 2008. It allows for preliminary rulings on the conformity of a legal provision with the Constitution. This disposition challenged the 2002 law (Paragraph I of section 1 of the Act of March 4th 2002) that states “No one shall claim he has sustained …Read more

The applicants, Mr. Eulalio and Mrs. Ariadna worked as nurses at the Prison of Albacete. The prison had, allegedly, implemented the so-called Syringe Exchange Program (“Program”), a public health program developed by the Penitentiary Health General Sub-Directorate. The experimental Program was launched with the objective of preventing the transmission of diseases between inmates by, among …Read more

Plaintiff went to the hospital to obtain an amniocentesis, which reported a karyotype of 46, XY normal. Upon plaintiff’s son’s birth, 6 months later, doctors suspected the child suffered from Down syndrome. Testing of the child’s blood revealed a karyotype of 47 XY +21. Rechecking the original amniotic fluid also found an abnormality. The error …Read more

The appellant, a welder and a machine technician, went to the health care facility of Mutua Asepeyo for lumbosciatic pain caused by lifting a machine that day. He was treated with medication and rest, but did not improve. He was then diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and disc herniation, which was confirmed elsewhere. He consented …Read more

The petitioner’s childbirth resulted in a child with disability. The petitioner had diabetes, a history of intravenous drug use, hepatitis B and C, and an obstetric history that included two abortions and two previous eutocic (vaginal) deliveries.  When in the 35th week of her pregnancy, the petitioner went into preterm labor. The next day the …Read more

The appellant gave birth in the Hospital Universitario of Salamanca to a child born with shoulder dystocia. She brought an administrative claim against the relevant insurance company, requesting compensation in the amount of 140,036.65 Euros. She based her claim on the facts that (a) her baby’s medical history was not completed but only included gynecologist …Read more

A homosexual man claimed that his sexual orientation had been the single ground on which Polish courts had denied him the right to succeed to the tenancy of a flat in which he had lived with his partner. The applicant believed he had been refused the status of a person who had remained in actual …Read more

A girl allegedly raped claimed for abortion under the art. 86 (2) of the Criminal Code of Argentina, which excluded women from criminal liability when they have been raped and they were mentally disabled.  The girl had no disabilities. The First Instance Court authorized the abortion and, fifteen minutes later, gave notice to mass media. …Read more

RM was born a hermaphrodite/intersexual and was raised as male. His birth was not registered at the time, which caused RM difficulties later in life as he was not in consequence recognised by the State for employment, marriage or other legal reasons. RM was later convicted of an offence of robbery with violence and sentenced …Read more

Mahua Shom went to a nursing home’s maternity clinic to deliver her child. She was admitted at 8:30 am on August 25, 1997 to a clinic belonging to the wife of Dr. S.B. Mondal, a gynecologist. Despite her emergency condition, she was not seen by physicians until 4:00 pm, when a treating doctor completed delivery …Read more

Ms Omeredo fled Nigeria in May 2003 to escape her village’s custom of female genital mutilation (FGM) and applied for asylum in Austria. The Federal Asylum Office and the Asylum Court rejected her application on the same grounds, namely that the applicant was expected to make use of the state’s protection by fleeing within Nigeria …Read more

The Attorney General (AG) of Quebec challenged the constitutionality of sections 8 to 19, 40 to 53, 60, 61 and 68 of Canada’s Assisted Human Reproduction Act (the “Act”) on federalism grounds. Some of these provisions create or relate to prohibitions on human cloning and various aspects of the commercialization of reproductive materials and functions. …Read more

The matter pertained to a 19-20 year old, “mentally retarded”, woman (the victim) whose mental capacity was that of a nine year old. She was living in a welfare institution (the Institution) established by the Chandigarh Administration, having previously lived in a government institute for mentally retarded children. She became pregnant while living in the …Read more

Overruled by Suresh Kumar Koushal and Anor. v. Naz Foundation and Ors. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (the Section) penalized voluntary “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” and described them as “unnatural offences.” An offence under this Section was non-bailable and carried a maximum punishment of …Read more

In an earlier decision – Right to Life New Zealand Inc v the Abortion Supervisory Committee [2008] NZHC 865 – the presiding judge reserved his opinion on whether he ought to order declaratory relief in favour of the applicant, Right to Life New Zealand Inc (RTL). In that case RTL successfully argued that the respondent, …Read more

Petitioner V.P.C. stated that on two occasions, her father H.R.A. took her nine-year-old daughter V.R.C. to a remote site, drugged her, and sexually abused her. Petitioner took her daughter to the hospital on October 16, 2001 because her daughter could not control her bowels. The doctor biopsied polyps near the daughter’s rectum and found that …Read more

Petitioners alleged that environmental pollution from a metallurgical complex in La Oroya, Peru caused a series of violations of the rights of community members. They alleged Peru was guilty by act and omission for its failure to control the metallurgical complex; its lack of supervision of the facility’s operation; and its failure to adopt measures …Read more

Six men appealed the decision of the Exeter County Court that denied recovery in tort for the damage of their sperm held in frozen storage at a facility run by the North Bristol NHS Trust (the “Trust”). All six of the men were diagnosed with cancer and were advised that chemotherapy was the appropriate treatment. …Read more

The law applicable to abortion and medically induced miscarriages in Northern Ireland was a 19th century law (the Offences against the Person Act 1861), which made it a crime to procure a miscarriage. Courts had interpreted this principle to decide that if a person who procured the abortion acted in good faith for the purpose …Read more

The Municipality of Vitoria, in the State of Espritio Santo, Brazil, and the Federal Government appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil – an extraordinary appeal – to have the decision of the lower court overruled. The lower court had decided in favor of Alessandro Dias Almeida and others that the State should provide …Read more

The petitioner, a Colombian national, filed a tutela (an appeal for legal protection) on behalf of his partner who was 19 weeks pregnant. The petitioner’s partner underwent examination and discovered that the fetus exhibited serious malformations that made the fetus unviable. Despite the advice of a board of specialists to terminate the pregnancy, the local health …Read more

The complainants, two human rights organizations based in Sudan, the United Kingdom and Canada, alleged gross and systematic violations of human rights on the part of the Republic of Sudan and Government-supported militia forces in the Darfur region against indigenous tribes, including the Fur, Marsalit and Zaghawa. The organizations alleged that since General Omar Al-Bashir …Read more

The Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) filed a writ petition against the Government, seeking urgent steps to be taken to prevent sexual harassment against women at the place of work or study. On the date the petition was filed, there existed no legislative provisions protecting women from abusive behavior by men in high-level positions …Read more

The plaintiff sued the defendant, Regional Healthcare Department of the Generalitat Valenciana (RHD) for a refund of medical expenses following its denial of fertilization treatment. The plaintiff was carrying a genetic illness multiple endocrine neoplasia type II (MEN II). She had surgery after being diagnosed with the disease. Subsequently, the plaintiff decided she wanted to …Read more

Appeals were filed by both parties to a decision in a case involving health damages sustained by a child as a result of a delay of the mother’s cesarean during childbirth. The child in the case suffered damages when, as a result of the lack of appropriate staff on-site, there was a delay in performing …Read more