A Peruvian woman, known as K.L., is receiving a formal apology and compensation from the government after a hospital denied her an abortion 15 years ago.

Normally, abortion is banned in Peru. In this case, she was legally permitted to have an abortion because the baby had a fatal birth defect that also endangered her life.

Yet the hospital refused to provide the procedure. So the 17-year old carried the fetus to term and the baby died 4 days after birth. The woman suffered physically and mentally for much longer.

She then became the central figure in a decades-plus battle for global reproductive rights and gender equality.

A global issue

Abortion is illegal in many countries around the world.

Even in countries where exceptions for health are technically allowed, obstacles remain.

When countries ban abortion, it deters doctors from learning how to administer the procedure because they fear criminal repercussions. This can cause an absence of formally capable abortion providers, leaving an at-risk woman with no legal options. Her only choice then becomes informal providers, which can be dangerous and result in criminal charges against the woman because she went outside the law.

In El Salvador, for example, some women who have miscarriages are thrown in jail after being accused of having an abortion.

Many women, fearing the legal consequences, carry dangerous or doomed pregnancies to term and suffer physically and mentally just as K.L. has.

And this is a violation of their human rights.

In 2005, the UN Human Rights Committee formally declared that denying a woman an abortion when her life is at stake or if the baby has fatal birth defects is a human rights violation.

This ruling centered on the Peruvian who was denied care in 2001. The UN demanded that the country acknowledge its failure and compensate K.L. for the harm caused.  

By denying her, the country violated several rights including: the right to an effective remedy, prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, right to private life and right of minors to measures of protection.

The UN and partner organizations fought for nearly 10 years to get Peru to accept this decision. Despite the delay, this is an important step for women’s rights.  

It was the first time a government complied with a UN ruling on abortion.

As committee chairman, Fabián Salvioli said, “When a State complies with a ruling of the Committee, it is honouring its obligations and providing hope to the rest of the victims involved in cases before the Committee,” he said. “States must comply with their human rights obligations under the Covenant, because that would contribute to create fairer societies.”

Reproductive rights globally

Access to abortion is just one aspect of reproductive rights, which covers access to quality health care, sexual education, contraceptives; freedom from coerced sterilization and contraception; and freedom to safe family planning without interference.

But how a country treats abortion tends to reveal the broader state of reproductive rights, and, even more broadly, the extent of gender discrimination.

Breaking the silence on sexual violence and abortion is a critical first step in #Peruhttps://t.co/bVvsRgKbCkpic.twitter.com/XGaXIweCrO

— openDemocracy (@openDemocracy) January 20, 2016

A woman who is denied an abortion when her life is at risk is also, most likely, denied the rest of her reproductive rights.

As the world pursues the Global Goals by 2030, ensuring that all women have access to all of their reproductive rights will be essential.

When women are empowered, communities become empowered. And when communities become empowered, poverty ends.

Note: This article includes discussion of reproductive rights. The UN considers such issues to be human rights issues, but not all partners involved in Global Citizen agree with this position, and therefore this article should not be considered to express the views of all groups involved with Global Citizen.