Induced abortion : a fundamental human right?

Abstract

The Constitution of Malta confers to all individuals various fundamental human rights including the right for life, health, privacy, equality, and the right to live free from inhuman and degrading treatment, all encompassed in Article 32 of the Constitution. Correspondingly, many pro-choice activists argue that the criminalisation of abortion in a legal system, such as Malta, undermines such human rights, as women are forced to submit to unwanted pregnancies. Two of the most fundamental human rights are the right to life and health which can be impeded when the pregnancy is life threatening or when clandestine abortions are carried out. Hence, while the phrase “right to life” has been associated with pro-life campaigns who argue in favour of the right of life of the foetus, it can be maintained that every pregnant woman must have the option to terminate her pregnancy if it can cause her injury or jeopardises her life. In addition, the right to health also penetrates into the notion of the psychological health of the woman, supposedly further safeguarded through the right to be free from inhuman, or degrading treatment. Furthermore, abortion can be seen as the zenith of a female’s bodily autonomy and a State promoting gender equality should not fail to include such a right in their legal system. All this ties in to the right to private life. The fact that the State denies abortion can be seen as impinging on such a right, as every woman should be allowed to make such a complex and private decision without State interference. This issue was brought up in Roe v Wade, paving the way for abortion to be viewed as a fundamental human right in the United States. Conclusively, this study aims to exhibit that through the subversion of these individual rights, abortion should ultimately be a fundamental human right in Malta as it is recognised in the United States.