Amicus Brief (Abortion) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Amicus Brief (Abortion) - Essay Example his brief before the Court as an amicus curiae for the purpose of pointing out to the Court the errors of law committed by the Supreme Court of Freedonia when it upheld the state of Freedonia over the herein petitioner Jane Roe in regard to the constitutionality of the Freedonia Abortion Act 2009. The UK and the United States are both State Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR hereafter). On December 16, 1966 in New York, the ICCPR, a United Nations initiated covenant, was declared open for signature. The UK signed it on September 16, 1968 with its ratification papers duly submitted to the Committee on May 20, 1976. As per the Committee records, the US signed the covenant on October 5, 1977 and ratified it on June 8, 1992 (UN Treaty Collection). Under international laws, the US is obliged to comply with the provisions of international treaties, like the ICCPR to which it is a state party. In upholding international treaties, like the ICCPR, respecting civil rights of citizens, the UK has passed into law the Abortion Act of 1967 and other related laws like the Human Fertilisation Act 1990 (amended in 2000). Unlike the US federal system in which fifty-states are free to enact their respective abortion-related laws so long as they do not contravene the US Constitution, the UK, a unitary state, has one set of abortion laws applicable all throughout its jurisdiction, except for Northern Ireland in respect to abortion laws. In UK, except for Northern Ireland, abortion is legal. A woman can opt for abortion up to the 24th week of conception if two doctors can attest that she or her children, runs a risk, physically and mentally, if the pregnancy is carried to its full term. The limit, however, is not applicable if two doctors agree that a woman’s pregnancy places her life at risk if she continues with the pregnancy or the child is likely to be born with serious physical or mental defects or to save the woman’s life or to