The respondents (plaintiffs at first instance), a married couple, decided not to have any more children. Mrs. M elected to have sterilization surgery (tubal litigation) performed by the appellant (defendant). Mrs. M told the appellant that her right fallopian tube had been removed and on examination that appeared to be correct, so appellant only performed …Read more

The respondent was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm to Kylie Flick with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Prior to the crime, the respondent and Ms. Flick engaged in a single act of consensual sexual intercourse after which Ms. Flick became pregnant. The respondent sought to persuade Ms. Flick to have an abortion, …Read more

The Appellant, Ophelia Azriel De’lonta (born Michael A. Stokes), a Virginia inmate suffering from gender identity disorder (GID) (also known as gender dysphoria or transsexualism), brought suit against the Respondents, the Director of and doctors at the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC), alleging that they inflicted cruel and unusual punishment on her, in violation of …Read more

The applicant was registered as a male at birth. In 1991, The District Court granted the applicant’s request to change her forenames to Carola Brenda after hearing from several psychiatric and psychological experts who determined that the applicant was a male-to-female transsexual and had been for the last three years living as a female. In …Read more

YF was a Turkish national. On 15 October 1993, he was taken into custody on suspicion of aiding and abetting the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), an illegal terrorist organization. Two days later, his wife, NF, was also taken into custody. NF was held in custody for four days, during which time she was allegedly kept …Read more

After conceiving as a result of a failed sterilization surgery, Karina Rees filed a claim of negligence against the Darlington Memorial NHS Trust (the Trust) to recover the costs of rearing her child. Mrs. Rees suffered from a genetic condition that had left her almost completely blind. She believed that her disability meant that raising …Read more

Police officers entered a private residence in response to a report of a disturbance and came upon two men engaged in a sexual act. The men were arrested for and charged with violating a Texas state criminal law that prohibited “deviate sexual intercourse [defined as oral or anal sex] with another individual of the same sex.” …Read more

The Plaintiffs Zhen Xuefeng and Chen Guoqing were a married couple seeking a fertility treatment. They signed a contract regarding such assisted reproduction with defendant People’s hospital of Jiangsu Province (“People’s hospital”). The contract did not specify which of two fertilization techniques (Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (“ICSI”) or In Vitro Fertilization (“IVF”)) would be used, however …Read more

The League of Housewives, Consumers and Users of Argentina [Liga de Amas de Casa, Consumidores y Usuarios de la República Argentina] requested that judiciary declare that articles 5 and 7 of Act 418 and its amendment 439 of the City of Buenos Aires were contrary to the National Constitution. The Plaintiff alleged that under the …Read more

In 1996, the government of India had passed the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1995 (the “PNDT Act”) which was aimed at preventing the misuse of sex determination technology to abort girl children before birth.  Female feticide had become an increasingly frequent practice in India despite the implementations of reforms that attempted …Read more

This case is a writ position challenging the constitutionality of a law that prohibits anyone with more than two living children from holding certain public offices in the Panchayat raj local government system of the state of Haryana. Note that the Panchayat raj system is the traditional local government system of areas in the Indian …Read more

SL, an Austrian national, was born in 1981. SL is a homosexual and submits that he lives in a rural area of Austria where homosexuality is still taboo and suffered from the fact that he could not live his homosexuality openly and – until he reached the age of 18 – could not enter into …Read more

The applicant instituted proceedings before the District Court to change her forename to Carola Brenda. The District Court held that the conditions under the Transsexuals Act were met and granted the request in 1991. In 1992, the applicant brought an action against a German health insurance company. She claimed reimbursement for hormone therapy and sex-reassignment …Read more

The Constitutional Court was asked to determine whether the appellant (Government) was required to give effect, pending an appeal, to an order of the High Court which directed it to make the drug nevirapine available to mothers and their newborn babies in public health facilities under certain circumstances and conditions. The order concerned the programme …Read more

The government of South Africa developed a national public health program to address mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The purpose of the program was to offer HIV-positive pregnant women nevirapine, a drug that prevents the transmission of HIV at birth, free of charge. The program was, however, limited in scope. It only offered nevirapine at certain …Read more

On June 21, 2001, the petitioner delivered a baby by the roadside and visited the second respondent’s Naguru Maternity Home/Clinic with the baby still attached to her. She received no medical care and was referred to another hospital. The petitioner was unable to walk the distance and was forced to sit outside with her newborn …Read more

Calvelli and Ciglio’s baby was transferred to an intensive care unit immediately after its birth, and died two days later of post-asphyxia syndrome. EC, the doctor who had delivered the baby and was a joint owner of the clinic, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and received a one year suspended prison sentence under the …Read more

Applicant, a student in her fifth year of basic education at a subsidized private school in the city of Coquimbo, Chile was expelled during an examination for having appeared seven months pregnant and was informed that her enrollment could not be renewed for the following school year. Her family had filed a complaint with the …Read more

The applicant, an Italian national, claimed violations under Articles 2 (right to life), 8 (respect for private and family life) and 12 (right to marry and family) of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) after his wife obtained a legal abortion without his consent. Prior to bringing an action in the European Court of …Read more

The applicant, a United Kingdom citizen had always enjoyed dressing as a woman since her young age and had the impression that her body did not fit her mind. Thus she started treatment with a psychiatrist and underwent gender re-assignment surgery. After the procedure, she experienced problems at work such as harassment allegedly because of …Read more

At least 55 men were arrested in Cairo on grounds of their sexual orientation during a police raid of a discotheque. The raid occurred after undercover officers entered the bar and observed and filmed dancing. The police targeted men who appeared to be homosexuals or who were not accompanied by women. One man was slapped …Read more

The plaintiff, a non profit organization that defended the life of children, filed a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against the National Ministry of Health and Social Service calling for the prohibition of the manufacture and distribution of an emergency contraceptive pill called “Inmediat” for its alleged “abortive effects”. The First …Read more

Applicants sought an order that the respondents (the Minister of Health and the members of the executive council for health) make Nevirapine available to pregnant women with HIV who give birth in public health institutions and “produce and implement an effective national program to prevent or reduce mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV, including …Read more

Petitioners were former patients who received obstetrical care at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), a public hospital in the city of Charleston, and who were arrested after testing positive for cocaine. In 1988, concerns arose among MUSC staff about an apparent increase in the use of cocaine by patients who were receiving prenatal …Read more

Ms. Ganter had had her eggs removed, fertilized with semen from Mr. Whalland (her partner of eight years, with whom she was in a de facto relationship) and frozen, in accordance with an agreement (the “Agreement”) made between Ms. Gantar, Mr. Whalland and the fertilization company. After Ms. Gantar and Mr. Whalland separated, Ms. Gantar …Read more

Cesar Augusto Medina Lopera (the Plaintiff) requested the Health Security Company Comfenalco (H.S.C, the Respondent), to affiliate him to the Social Security System in Health as beneficiary of his life partner, Jairo Castaño Suescún, who was a contributor to this H.S.C. The Respondent denied the affiliation and argued that, in accordance with Colombian Political Constitution, …Read more

Ms. Carmichele stayed at a friend’s place where Coetzee, a man who had previous history of violence and sexual misconduct, stalked her and walked around the house. She and her friend reported Coetzee’s abnormal behavior to the local police station but the police claimed that they could do nothing about him. Eventually one day when …Read more

Before the promulgation of the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Act, 78 senators made a referral to the French constitutional court challenging the constitutionality of the new bill according to article 61 of the French Constitution. The Act had three components. It extended to 12 weeks the period of time a woman could have an abortion …Read more

Certain delegates referred the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (Abortion) and Contraception Act to the Constitutional Court in order to challenge it. Under the relevant paragraphs of the Constitution, the 15-day period in which the President must act to promulgate an act after its final adoption could only be suspended where such act was referred to …Read more

A doctor, Y, was treating Mrs. X during her pregnancy. Y suspected a breech presentation (buttocks- or feet-first presentation rather than the normal head-first presentation) during the 8th month of pregnancy. The mother wanted a home birth. On 12 January, the child was born in a home birth and as a result of inadequate medical …Read more