Last Change:
05/06/2025
Reproductive Healthcare and Rights Act, 2013
Year: 2013
Type: Domestic law
Rights Category: Health
Description
A Bill to facilitate reproductive healthcare and promote reproductive health rights. Whereas it is expedient to give recognition to and promote reproductive health care rights and provide reproductive healthcare in accordance with the Constitution and International commitments made by the Government of Pakistan under the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and those to which Pakistan is a State Party.
Selected provisions
(1) The right to reproductive healthcare information can be promoted.-
(a) by providing reproductive healthcare information, which provides awareness regarding the mental and physical health and wellbeing of individuals and families;
(b) through the exercise of parental responsibility which assures the right of parents as educators; and
(c) by taking into consideration the religious norms and cultural environment.
(2) The right to gender-neutral information can be promoted.-
(a) by access to information related to reproductive rights and responsibilities within a gender perspective, which is free from stereotypes, discriminatory and obscurantist customs, and is presented in an objectives and pluralistic manner;
(b) by recognition that all couples have the right to information to ensure reproductive life decisions are made with informed consent; and
(c) by public awareness on the prevalence and impact of morbidity and mortality and availability of medical science to prevent this suffering.
(3) The right to equality, and to be free from all forms of discrimination can be promoted by ensuring that.-
(a) no personal shall be discriminated against in their reproductive lives, in their access to services and information on the grounds of race, color, sex, creed or any other criteria of discrimination;
(b) all women have the right to protection from discrimination in social, domestic or employment spheres by reasons of pregnancies or motherhood.
(c) all efforts shall be made to promote a mutually respectful gender perspective which assists in responsible parenting and strengthens family relations.
(4) The right to be free from ill-treatment can be promoted by ensuring that persons have the right to protection from rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence.
The need for reproductive healthcare shall be accepted in order to.-
(i) to provide quality reproductive healthcare through short and long term efforts, among others, to professionalize obstetric care, emergency obstetric care and improve reproductive healthcare systems, particularly, in the primary health care sector;
(ii) to reach the underserved by increasing access to the disadvantaged, hard to reach, and vulnerable including poor women and remote marginalized areas by strengthening Primary Health Units in addition to other responsibilities, the provision of family planning maternal and neonatal healthcare.
(iii) to provide quality ante-natal care remains the basic method to achieve a decline in maternal mortality and morbidity; and
(iv) to meet women's health needs,
(a) through family planning services for prevention of unsafe and unplanned pregnancies; and
(b) by observance of WHO standards of antenatal and post natal care thereby reducing incidence such as involuntary miscarriage and increasing access to trained birth attendants.
The facilitation of reproductive healthcare services shall focus on the following, namely:-
(a) the full range of services which address maternal mortality and morbidity shall be encouraged;
(b) reproductive health system shall be strengthened so that the competencies of reproductive health providers ensure quality services which encourage choice and are given in an environment of dignity and continuity;
(c) for access and affordability, focus and priority shall be given to the primary health care sector
(d) it shall be recognized that all persons shall have the benefit of and access to available reproductive healthcare technology, including that relating to infertility, which is safe and free from gender discrimination;
(e) no person shall be subject to medical trials related to reproductive healthcare without their full, free, informed and written consent;
(f) the Government shall take stringent measures to prevent the testing and dumping of harmful contraceptives and pharmaceutical in Pakistan, whether by domestic entities or foreign entities, or multinational corporation (MNCs);
(g) all persons must be free to manage their reproductive life, having regard to the rights of others; and
(h) no person shall be subjected to forced pregnancy, sterilization, abortion or birth control.
(1) The Federal Government shall be responsible for oversight of this Act and shall give effect to the provisions herein through all concerned public sector organizations.
(2) The Federal Government while giving effect to the provisions of this Act shall evaluate public policies and programs to effectively promote reproductive rights and health, especially reduction of maternal mortality morbidity and prenatal mortality.
(3) The Federal Government shall in collaboration with the media and private sector, work on operationalization, implementation, and enforcement of this Act, specifically the promotion of the right to reproductive healthcare information and communication activities, and the establishing of services to meet the needs of women and men throughout the reproductive life cycle.