The American Convention on Human Rights: Cornerstone of the Right to Life of the Unborn in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

States parties to the American Convention granted explicit protection to life from conception in article 4(1), protecting the unborn child, as subject of human rights, against any acts that intentionally cause his death or destruction. Although the Inter–American Court of Human Rights has had a benevolent approach to this provision, the Inter–American Commission on Human Rights has been inconsistent in its application, changing its position throughout the last decades, occasionally promoting the legalization of abortion or its recognition as a human right. However, a correct interpretation of arti- cle 4(1) by the Court or the Commission would apply international norms of treaty interpretation and conclude that article 4(1) supports the unborn child’s protection from all forms of elective abortion or reproductive technologies that attempt against his life and that states parties have not only a duty to enforce this right but to prevent violations thereof.