Home / Publications /
Letter to President Obama: United States Restrictions on Abortion Access Violates International Humanitarian Law
06.09.2016
Letter to President Obama: United States Restrictions on Abortion Access Violates International Humanitarian Law
Abortion
Helms Amendment
International Humanitarian Law
Reproductive Rights
Sexual Violence
United States
US Abortion Laws
US Foreign Aid Restrictions
Louise Doswald-Beck, the former Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross’ Legal Division (ICRC), former Director of the University Centre for International Humanitarian Law (CUDIH) and former Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists wrote to President Obama on how the US abortion prohibition attached to humanitarian aid violates the rights of women and girls raped in armed conflict under IHL, and is a form of torture.
Related Publications
UN/Government Submissions
09.20.2023
Report to Human Rights Committee on US Abortion Bans as Violations of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Advocacy Resources
08.23.2023
Oportunidades para Avanzar en la Justicia de Género en el Proyecto de Tratado Internacional sobre Crímenes de Lesa Humanidad
Letters
04.19.2023
Coalition Letter to the White House and State Department on the US Periodic Report to the UN Human Rights Committee Under The ICCPR
The undersigned organizations call on the Biden administration to update the United States’ fifth periodic report to the UN Human Rights Committee under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee will be basing its review on this report, which was submitted by the Trump administration on January 15, 2021. This report version lacks updates on existing U.S. policies, as well as a commitment to expand protections for marginalized communities, especially non-citizens, in the context of reproductive health and access to medical care. It is critical — and consistent with the Biden administration’s policy commitments — to address the gaps between current U.S. policies and the ICCPR.
Read more
Briefs and White Papers
04.18.2023