Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa

Article 14.1.a

the right to control their fertility;

Article 14.1.b

the right to decide whether to have children, the number of children and the spacing of children;

Article 14.1.c

the right to choose any method of contraception;

Article 14.1.d

the right to self-protection and to be protected against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS;

Article 14.1.e

the right to be informed on one's health status and on the health status of one's partner, particularly if affected with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, in accordance with internationally recognised standards and best practices;

Article 14.1.f

the right to have family planning education.

Article 14.2

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to:

Article 14.2.a

provide adequate, affordable and accessible health services, including information, education and communication programmes to women especially those in rural areas;

Article 14.2.b

establish and strengthen existing pre-natal, delivery and post-natal health and nutritional services for women during pregnancy and while they are breast-feeding;

Article 14.2.c

protect the reproductive rights of women by authorising medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus.