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Submission to the United Nations Committee against Torture 59th Session List of Issues Prior to Reporting – United States
06.29.2016
Submission to the United Nations Committee against Torture 59th Session List of Issues Prior to Reporting – United States
Abortion
Helms Amendment
Human Rights Treaties
International Humanitarian Law
Reproductive Rights
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United Nations
United States
US Abortion Laws
This submission sets out concerns over US policies that restrict foreign aid for abortion services, which we urge the Committee against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“Committee”) consider in its preparation of the list of issues to be examined during review of the United States’ (“US”) periodic report for the 59th Session. These policies systematically deny access to abortion services to girls and women around the world, including war rape victims, resulting in severe physical and mental pain and suffering in contravention of US obligations under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“CAT” or “Convention”).
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Idaho’s “Defense of Life Act” (“Act” or “Idaho’s Law”), a near-total abortion ban, restricts access to necessary emergency reproductive healthcare, exacerbating preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and otherwise negatively impacting pregnant people. The law’s narrow exception for life-saving care will not prevent or mitigate these harms and will leave patients without access to emergency reproductive healthcare. The United States has ratified several human rights treaties that require it to guarantee access to safe and legal reproductive health services, in particular in emergencies or acute medical crises governed by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (“EMTALA”). Under these treaties, the U.S. is required to respect, protect and fulfil the rights to life; freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; non-discrimination; and privacy. Idaho’s draconian abortion law fails to respect these rights and violates the U.S.’s treaty obligations. This violation of the U.S.’s treaty obligations militates in favor of affirming the preliminary injunction issued by the District Court. Causing the U.S. to violate its international obligations will result in irreparable harm and is not in the public interest.
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