This project proposes to reconsider the decision of the European Committee of Social Rights in International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network (IPPF-EN) v. Italy case which addresses the regulation of conscientious objection, using an integrated approach to human rights. More specifically, it argues that the use of different human rights instruments – broadly defined — could have led the Committee to adopt a gendered approach to the legal questions it had to tackle. By adopting this approach, we intend to challenge Committee’s reasoning on two fronts : first, we argue that its interpretation of the right to health fails to account for the specific violation of women’s right to access to health services. Second, we show how this gendered approach could have modified Committee’s understanding of discrimination claims raised by the plaintiff.
This work is part of a broader re-writing judgments project pursued by the IAP, Human Rights Integration research group. More information available at : http://hrintegration.be/.
