Abstract

Restrictions on abortion carry profound legal, social, and economic consequences, falling most heavily upon women, gender minorities, and other marginalised groups. This paper interrogates abortion criminalisation through the analytical lens of gender-based persecution under international human rights law — principally the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It argues that where abortion restrictions form part of a widespread or systematic State-directed attack on individuals capable of pregnancy, such restrictions may satisfy the threshold criteria for crimes against humanity under Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute. The paper examines how international legal instruments recognise forced pregnancy and denial of reproductive autonomy as forms of gender-based violence, surveys landmark jurisprudence including K.L. v Peru, Mellet v Ireland, and R.R. v Poland, and evaluates the regressive global trajectory set in motion by the United States Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v Wade. It further analyses the socioeconomic consequences of criminalisation on marginalised communities, India's progressive but imperfect legislative framework under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (as amended in 2021), and the need for coherent international enforcement mechanisms. The paper concludes with concrete legal and policy recommendations for protecting reproductive rights as non-derogable fundamental human rights at the international and domestic levels.

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