Foetal Personhood in the Jurisprudence of Abortion in International and Comparative Law

Gizachew Silesh Chane; Razaq Justice Adebimpe; Razaq Justice Adebimpe

doi:10.20372/bdujol.v10i2.1342

Gizachew Silesh Chane Editor-in-Chief
Razaq Justice Adebimpe LL.B, LL.M, Ph.D. (University of Ilorin, Nigeria); PGDE (Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria); Barrister & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; Notary Public of Nigeria. Lecturer, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, Ilorin- Nigeria.
Razaq Justice Adebimpe LL.B, LL.M, Ph.D. (University of Ilorin, Nigeria); PGDE (Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria); Barrister & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; Notary Public of Nigeria. Lecturer, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, Ilorin- Nigeria.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20372/bdujol.v10i2.1342

Keywords: Abortion, foetal rights, international law, personhood, womenâ€™s rights

Abstract

One of the most disputed issues concerning the foetus particularly vis-Ã -vis the law on abortion is its personhood. While there is unanimity among scholars on the need to be definitive on what foetal personhood is, there abound diametrically opposing arguments about its legal status. It is imperative to resolve this conundrum because of the effect of the findings thereon on abortion debates. This is because if the foetus is regarded as a legal person abortion would be homicide, except in self-defence. If otherwise, the procedure may be legal, even on request. Thus, determining the status of the foetus is the starting-point for resolving most of the issues on the jurisprudence of abortion. It is against this backdrop that this article examines the laws of selected countries and international and regional instruments on the status of the foetus in comparison with womenâ€™s right to abortion. The article attempts to resolve the misgivings arising from the ascription to the foetus of certain pre-birth rights even while the foetus - the supposed bearer of those rights - is not yet born and in spite of the retention of the born-alive-rule in most legal systems. The article concludes that though the foetus is considered precious - even from conception - there is no basis for supposing that the foetus in-utero have inherent legal personality a fortiori the right to life as to reject womenâ€™s right to abortion unless such provision is otherwise unequivocally imputed into the law of a country.

Author Biography

Gizachew Silesh Chane, Editor-in-Chief

Gizachew Silesh Chane

Gizachew has earned LL.M in Maritime Law from University of Oslo (2017), LL.M in Business Law from Addis Ababa University (2010), LL.B degree from Addis Ababa University School of Law (2006), and BA degree in economics from Bahir Dar University (2015).

Gizachew is currently working as assistant professor of Business Law at Bahir Dar University, and as Consultant and attorney at Law. With over 15 years working experience in teaching and advisory services, he has been engaged in teaching and training activities extensively. He teaches law of business organizations, corporate governance and finance, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and Law of Financial Institutions and Markets, among others. He also advises postgraduate students in different universities of Ethiopia on their dissertation.

Specifically for the last 3 years, as of October 2019, he is serving as director of legal service directorate for technology institutes of Bahir Dar University, responsible for advising the administration human resource management, training the staff and the administration on employment issues, among others. He has also undertaken problem solving research on legal matters in collaboration with NGOs, notably with USAID Ethiopia in which he won and delivered, together with associates, two successive researches in 2021 and 2022. Gizachew has published a number of research works in various areas of law.