ABSTRACT
International human rights treaties require international and national law to secure women’s rights to: freedom from all forms of discrimination; liberty and security, marriage and the foundation of families, private and family life, and information and education; and access to health care and the benefits of scientific progress. The challenge to feminists is to apply their methods of analysis to international human rights law in order to remedy the legal neglect of women’s reproductive health. All major human rights treaties provide for a system of reporting. Some of the treaties’ bodies, such as the Human Rights Committee, also have the authority to receive petitions from individuals claiming that their governments violate the treaty. Application of international human rights at both levels is explored in terms of discrete and legally distinguishable categories of rights. The most obvious human right violated by avoidable death in pregnancy or childbirth is a woman’s right to life itself.
