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The German Abortion Decisions And The Protective Function In German And Canadian Constitutional Law, Vanessa Macdonnell, Jula Hughes
The German Abortion Decisions And The Protective Function In German And Canadian Constitutional Law, Vanessa Macdonnell, Jula Hughes
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
In the First and Second Abortion decisions, the German Constitutional Court drew on earlier jurisprudence to hold that the state was under a constitutional duty to protect the fetus from deprivations of its interest in life by the pregnant woman. In this article, we suggest that Canadian constitutional law scholars and reproductive rights advocates would benefit from examining the German abortion decisions despite their highly controversial nature. In our view, the benefits are twofold. First, the German cases demonstrate that recognizing the protective function can help clarify constitutional doctrine by revealing the tensions that underlie many difficult constitutional cases. Second, …
"Pro-Life" Absolutes, Feminist Challenges: The Fundamentalist Narrative Of Irish Abortion Law 1986-1992, Ruth Fletcher
"Pro-Life" Absolutes, Feminist Challenges: The Fundamentalist Narrative Of Irish Abortion Law 1986-1992, Ruth Fletcher
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article asks how Irish abortion law developed to the point of stopping a young pregnant rape victim from travelling abroad to have an abortion in 1992 (Attorney General v. X.). The author argues that this case, which ultimately saw the Irish Supreme Court overturn that decision and recognize the young woman's right to abortion, was the last chapter of the fundamentalist narrative of Irish abortion law. The feminist critique of that law needs to consider its particular fundamentalist aspects in order to clarify the obstacles posed to the struggle for Irish women's reproductive freedom. The author argues that a …