Towards Reproductive Justice
In June 2022, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision that overturned Roe v Wade, declaring that the American Constitution did not protect the right to abortion. Several US states immediately banned abortion, while others were quick to enact restrictive regulation. This decision sent shockwaves around the world, including in Australia. It gave Australians reason to pause and consider the extent to which reproductive rights are protected here, and the accessibility of reproductive health care in this country.
Towards Reproductive Justice frames the right to terminate a pregnancy as a human rights issue and considers Australian laws and policies that have significantly advanced reproductive rights. These include legal measures to mitigate the impact of conscientious objection, and the introduction of safe access zones around abortion clinics. It also notes the wave of decriminalisation that has swept across Australia and the importance of removing abortion from the criminal law framework. At the same time, this book illuminates the enduring barriers to abortion access, acknowledging the remaining steps on the path to achieving full reproductive justice. Among these are the attitudes of some health professionals and health facilities, financial and geographic barriers to access, deficiencies in medical training, and persisting legal obstacles. Recent legal and policy developments are also examined, both those which contribute to the advancement of reproductive rights in Australia and those which detract from this crucial goal.
Ronli Sifris is an Associate Professor in Monash University’s Faculty of Law and Deputy Director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law. Her research is predominantly focused on issues at the intersection of women’s reproductive health and the law (at both the domestic and international levels), including abortion, surrogacy, assisted reproduction and involuntary sterilisation. Her work also spans the spheres of health law, human rights and gender. She is the author of Reproductive Freedom, Torture and International Human Rights: Challenging the Masculinisation of Torture (Routledge, 2014) and is currently writing a book on surrogacy law, policy and practice. In addition, Ronli has co-edited two special issues of high-quality journals — one for Griffith Law Review focusing on ‘Gender, Health and the Law’, and the other for the Journal of Law and Medicine on ‘Commercial Surrogacy: What Role for Law in Australia?’. Her research has been quoted by the High Court of Australia and cited by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
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