MATERNAL HEALTH AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS IN PAKISTAN: A LEGAL HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH

Abstract

The paper will adopt a legal and a human-rights approach to this problem of maternal health and reproductive rights in Pakistan. It looks at constitutional provisions, legal provisions and international agreements that Pakistan is a signatory to and assesses the differences between the provisions of the statutes and actual access to maternal health services, contraception and safe abortion in Pakistan. The paper has presented systemic obstacles based on the recent case law and empirical studies including gender discrimination, poverty, and poor health infrastructure. According to it legal protections, reproductive accountability and autonomy measures, must be enhanced to aid in the reduction of the maternal mortality and morbidity. According to the research, there are certain reforms proposed: the codification of reproductive rights, the improvement of the delivery of services, the education and protection of healthcare workers, and the adaptation of domestic legislative acts to international human rights principles. By setting the recommendations within the socio-political reality in Pakistan, the paper presents a viable roadmap to be adopted by the policymakers, practitioners in the field of law and health practitioners with an interest in ameliorating the maternal health situation and state obligations. It points out signs of progress which are pressing and quantifiable.