•  
  •  
 

Keywords

Abortion, Equal Protection, Due Process, Discrimination, Ireland, UK, US, Privacy, Equality, Texas, Criminalization

Abstract

This Note argues that one’s postal code, or where one lives within the United States or in Northern Ireland, should not negatively impact a woman’s access to safe abortion services. This Note will examine abortion-related jurisprudence in the United States and Northern Ireland and will make recommendations for the ways in which access to abortion services can be legally improved. Part I will explain current jurisprudence on abortion in the United States within the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause contexts. Part II will analyze the current legal framework that governs access to abortion in Northern Ireland and will review its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. Part III will discuss how the restrictions on abortion in the United States and Northern Ireland must be revised to ensure access to this fundamental human right, ensuring compliance with nondiscrimination principles under the Equal Protection Clause and the European Convention on Human Rights. This Note will conclude by drawing parallels between the experiences that Texan and Northern Irish women face when seeking abortion services. When legal restrictions make abortion inaccessible, these regulations are discriminatory and leave women with no choice but to resort to unsafe measures or to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, as is happening in the United States and Northern Ireland.

Download

Included in

Law Commons

Share

COinS