Abortion from an International Perspective after the Dobbs case

Abstract

The American Supreme Court of Justice recently overturned the precedents that legalized abortion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case. This article analyzes whether this decision is consistent with the current status of abortion as established in International Human Rights Law (IHRL), according to its classical sources (treaties and customary law). Since no treaty includes a right to abortion and there is no consistent practice among states to legalize abortion, various soft law instruments are discussed to clarify the consensus on this issue. These instruments include the agreements reached at the World Population Conferences, the Fourth World Conference on Women of 1995, and the pronouncements and case law of human rights mechanisms (treaty monitoring bodies and regional courts). This analysis shows that the arguments and conclusions in the Dobbs case are consistent with what states have agreed to internationally on the matter.