Timeline of Legal Milestones on Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Latin America

This General Recommendation considers the voices of Indigenous women and girls as protagonists and leaders within and outside their communities. It identifies and addresses different forms of intersectional discrimination faced by Indigenous women and girls, and their key role as leaders, bearers of knowledge and conveyors of culture within their villages, communities, families and society as a whole. (Paragraph 2).

The XV RWC held its meeting under the theme "Towards caring societies", and adopted the Buenos Aires Commitment, a robust and comprehensive document that represents a roadmap for the States. Under this framework, commitments and agreements were made regarding SRHR, the rights of persons with disabilities, among others.

On November 2, 2021, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a judgment declaring the Republic of El Salvador internationally responsible for the violation of the rights: (i) to personal liberty and to the presumption of innocence to the detriment of Manuela; (ii) to the defense, to be tried by an impartial tribunal, to the presumption of innocence, the duty to state reasons, the obligation not to apply legislation in a discriminatory manner, equality before the law, the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and the obligation to ensure that the purpose of the custodial sentence is the reform and social readaptation of convicted persons, to the detriment of Manuela; iii) to life, personal integrity, privacy, equality before the law, health and equality before the law, to the detriment of Manuela, and iv) to personal integrity to the detriment of Manuela's mother, father, eldest son and youngest son, in relation to the obligations to respect and guarantee the rights and the duty to adopt domestic law provisions, to the detriment of Manuela.

In this agreement, the States committed to promote the full exercise of sexual and reproductive rights, including explicitly mentioning safe and quality abortion services in cases where abortion is legal or decriminalized in national legislation.

In this GC, the Committee focuses on the Covenant right of everyone to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications (art. 15, para. 1 (b)), since this is the right most frequently invoked in relation to science. However, the purpose of this general comment is not limited to that right, but is also to elaborate on the relationship between science and economic, social and cultural rights in a broader sense. (Para. 3).

The case refers to the international responsibility of the State for the violations of the rights of Beatriz and her family due to the absolute prohibition of voluntary termination of pregnancy, which prevented her from having access to a legal, early and timely termination of pregnancy, in a situation of serious risk to life, health and integrity, and non-viability of the fetus with extrauterine life. In its merits report, the Commission established that the affectations and risks to the rights to life, health, personal integrity and private life of Beatriz reached maximum severity, as a consequence of the lack of access to the interruption of the pregnancy as a consequence, the degree of achievement of the intended purpose, that is, the protection of the life of the fetus was null due to its condition of anencephaly.

The GR focuses on the interpretation of Article 6 of the Covenant, which refers to the right to life.

In this report the IACHR states that although there is no legal definition of obstetric violence, the IACHR has considered that "obstetric violence encompasses all situations of disrespectful, abusive, negligent treatment, or denial of treatment, during pregnancy and the previous stage, and during childbirth or postpartum, in public or private health centers". The IACHR specifies that obstetric violence is defined as actions or omissions on the part of doctors and support personnel in public or private health services during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum; characterized by dehumanizing or discriminatory treatment that causes physical, psychological or moral harm to the woman.

In this document, the States of the region decide to reaffirm "the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development as the basis for a comprehensive and strategic roadmap for national and regional action on population and development, which provides specific orientations and guidelines for the region in this area beyond 2014".

The case refers to a series of violations in the framework of the criminal proceeding derived from a miscarriage that culminated in the conviction for the crime of aggravated homicide. In its analysis of the merits, the Commission determined that the State violated the right to personal liberty for the illegal detention of the victim, the right to privacy and the right to health; as well as the international responsibility of the State for the violation of the duty to state reasons, presumption of innocence and the principle of equality and non-discrimination taking into account the application of a series of stereotypes throughout the criminal proceedings. In addition, the Commission concludes that the violation of professional secrecy constituted an arbitrary restriction of Manuela's right to privacy.

As stated in Paragraph 1, the purpose of this GC is to clarify the obligations of States parties in relation to non-discrimination and equality, as enshrined in Article 5 of the Convention. Specific reference is made in this GC to the guarantee of the right to sexual and reproductive health.

The general recommendation complements and updates the guidance provided to States parties in general recommendation No. 19 and should be read in conjunction with it.

This GC details the specific legal obligations incumbent upon States parties to respect, protect and fulfill the right of everyone to sexual and reproductive health. Among them, it calls for the reformulation of laws that impede the realization of the right to sexual and reproductive health, such as laws criminalizing abortion, non-disclosure of HIV status, exposure to HIV and its transmission, sexual relations between consenting adults, and transgender identity or expression.

The Montevideo Strategy comprises 74 measures for the ten axes for implementation that are agreed upon at the regional level by the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean, and which are subsequently adapted to the priorities and needs of the countries and inserted into the sustainable development plans, although they are applicable at different levels (national, subnational, local, regional and international). In this strategic document, the States Parties agree to define that ""The Regional Gender Agenda identifies agreements for gender equality and women's autonomy in relation to multiple issues that can be grouped into critical dimensions linked to human rights, and which, therefore, recognize women as subjects of rights and the States as guarantors of these rights, while ratifying their universal, indivisible, inalienable and interdependent nature: ii) Sexual and reproductive rights in relation to: information and comprehensive sexual education; safe and quality abortion services, in cases where abortion is legal or decriminalized in national legislation; contraception; integrated social health services; maternal mortality; sexual orientation and gender identity; universal and accessible services; disability and old age; eradication of pregnancy in girls, prevention of pregnancy and teenage motherhood; sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS; health emergencies; healthy motherhood; technological development; different types of families.

In this GC, the Committee elaborates on the scope of the Convention regarding the rights of adolescents, establishes standards for access to services and consent, and urges States to guarantee access to safe abortion and post-abortion care, and to decriminalize the practice.

In this GC, the Committee reports on the obstacles encountered by women and girls with disabilities in most areas of life, which generate situations in which there are multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination against women and girls with disabilities, particularly in relation to the ability to exercise control over their own lives in various contexts, for example, with respect to health care, including sexual and reproductive health services, and where and with whom they wish to live, and makes recommendations to States Parties in this regard.

In this GR, the Committee clarifies the obligations of States parties to guarantee the rights of rural women, focusing on Article 14 of CEDAW. While that article is the only provision of an international human rights treaty that refers specifically to rural women, all rights under the Convention apply to them, and Article 14 must be interpreted in the context of the Convention as a whole. (Parragraphs. 1 and 2).

In this GR, the Committee examines the obligations of States parties to ensure that women have access to justice. These obligations encompass the protection of women's rights against all forms of discrimination in order to empower them as individuals and rights-holders. Effective access to justice maximizes the emancipatory and transformative potential of law. (P.2)

The Montevideo Consensus is a milestone in the sexual and reproductive rights agenda at the regional and global level because it establishes the first definition of sexual and reproductive rights agreed upon at the intergovernmental level, and indicates a concrete regional agenda, a true roadmap with clear lines of action in addition to 130 points that recognize the need to establish accountability and follow-up mechanisms, as well as definitions based on the international human rights obligations of States.

In this GC, the Committee deepens the interpretation of the scope of the right to health, "from the perspective of the rights of the child, in the sense that all children are entitled to opportunities for survival, growth and development in a context of physical, emotional and social well-being to the maximum extent of their potential".

In this document there is a chapter that states that women's autonomy is an essential factor in guaranteeing the exercise of their human rights in a context of full equality and, in particular, that control over their bodies, their integral health and the right to a life free of violence (physical autonomy) is an essential factor in guaranteeing the exercise of their human rights in a context of full equality.

In this report, Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez examines several of the abusive practices commonly reported in health care settings and describes how the framework of protection against torture and ill-treatment is applied in that context. This is a key report because it highlights the link between the prohibition of practices such as abortion and torture.

The case contributed to a growing consensus in international law that restricting women's access to abortion can be considered torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment under Article 7 of the ICCPR. It also demonstrated that obstruction of access to lawful and effective medical procedures can violate the Covenant.

The Committee established that Peru should amend its law to allow women to obtain an abortion in cases of rape and sexual assault; establish a mechanism to ensure the availability of such abortion services; and guarantee access to abortion services when the woman's life and mental and physical health are in danger, circumstances in which abortion is currently legal in the country; it also urged the State to review its restrictive interpretation of therapeutic abortion in line with the Committee's general recommendation No. 24.

In this report, Special Rapporteur Anand Grover on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health examines the interaction between criminal laws and other legal restrictions on 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 examines the impact of criminal and other legal restrictions on abortion; conduct during pregnancy; contraception and family planning; and access to sexual and reproductive health education and information. Some of the criminal and other legal restrictions in each of these areas, often discriminatory, hinder access to quality goods, services and information and thus violate the right to health. They also violate human dignity by restricting the freedoms arising from the right to health, particularly with regard to decision-making and physical integrity. Moreover, the application of these laws to achieve certain public health outcomes is often ineffective and disproportionate.

The States of the region adopted action agreements for the promotion of women's autonomy and gender equality, which include a specific chapter on "Promoting women's comprehensive health and sexual and reproductive rights" (Chapter 6).

Mexico signed a Friendly Settlement Agreement with the petitioners, who denounced this State before the IACHR for the violation of the human rights of the minor Paulina del Carmen Ramírez Jacinto, victim of a rape from which she became pregnant, and who was hindered by the State authorities from exercising her right to terminate the pregnancy as established by Mexican law.

This case is considered an important milestone for the health and reproductive rights of women in Peru and around the world. For the first time, an international human rights body found a country responsible for refusing to ensure access to medical services in a case of non-punishable abortion that were essential to a woman's health, thereby violating her fundamental human rights (ESCR Network).

The Committee on the Rights of the Child elaborates and deepens the content of the Convention in relation to adolescent health and development.

In this GC, the Committee urges States to submit reports on the right to life that provide data on birth rates and the number of cases of deaths of women in connection with pregnancy or childbirth. They should also provide information on measures taken to help prevent unwanted pregnancies and to ensure that women do not have to resort to life-threatening clandestine abortions.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women affirms that access to health care, including reproductive health care, is a basic right under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted unanimously by 189 countries, is an agenda for women's empowerment and took into account the key global policy document on gender equality. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action sets out a series of strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality, including the link between health and women (UN Women).

The Program of Action is a milestone, particularly because it establishes the unbreakable relationship between population and development within the framework of human rights. It also presents the first globally agreed definition of reproductive health and rights.

The agreement signed by the States of the Region mentions reproductive rights and establishes programmatic and strategic measures to guarantee them.