CCPR/C/130/D/3639/2019
her that she had to sign an informed consent form. The author stated that she wished to
undergo procedures such as artificial rupture of membranes only if they were specifically
necessary in her case and not as a matter of routine. However, the hospital staff told her that,
if she did not sign the informed consent form as requested, the hospital would no longer
accept her as a patient and she would be unable to undergo fetal examinations.
2.2
According to the author, she was subsequently informed that, at the hospital in
question, the practice was to induce labour at 41 weeks and 5 days of gestation. In that regard,
she was asked to sign another form stating that she consented to this procedure. She was told
that, if she did not do so, the hospital would no longer accept her as a patient and that its legal
department would have to report her. The author then informed the staff that, since she and
her baby were healthy, she preferred to undergo “expectant management”1 until she went into
labour naturally.
2.3
The author also points out that women in Spain have the legal right to hire a midwife
to assist them in childbirth; however, she states that she had to resort to the public health
system as she could not afford a midwife.
The complaint
3.1
While the author wished to give birth in the hospital, she also wished, to the extent
possible, for her pregnancy to be allowed to run its natural course. She claims that the hospital
prevented this from the outset.
3.2
The author claims that two similar cases recently occurred in Barcelona and Oviedo,
where two women were detained by emergency court order and forcibly taken to hospital to
have their labour induced. In view of the warning issued by the hospital staff, the author was
worried that she too would be detained and later forced to undergo unwanted physical and
chemical procedures. She adds that this would amount to a violation of her dignity and
autonomy as a pregnant woman and of her rights to integrity and privacy under articles 7 and
17 of the Covenant.
3.3
The author argues that it is for her, and not the State party, to determine the
circumstances in which she gives birth to her child. The alternative would amount to a
disproportionate violation of her family life, private life and autonomy, not to mention her
fundamental dignity and moral integrity, reducing her to a mere instrument and
depersonalizing her and her choices.
3.4
The author claims that the available domestic remedies would have been ineffective
because a court order requiring her to go to hospital to have her labour induced was about to
be issued and she would not have been able to contest it, since she would not have been
notified of the order until the day of her arrest. The author therefore applied to the Committee
for protective measures in order to avoid being forced to go to hospital to have her labour
induced.
State party’s observations on admissibility
4.1
In its observations of 7 August 2019, the State party rejects the author’s version of
events and gives its own account: on 31 July 2019 (at 41 weeks and 3 days of gestation), the
author went to the hospital for a check-up. At the hospital, the staff informed her of the risks
of not inducing labour from week 42 onward and gave her two options: to schedule an
induction for 1 August or to have another check-up on 2 August (at 41 weeks and 5 days of
gestation). The author chose the latter option. On 2 August 2019, the author submitted a
“birth plan”, which the hospital rejected. This plan was reviewed by a midwife, who
explained her doubts about it to the author. Two gynaecologists explained once again the
reasons for inducing labour at 41 weeks and 6 days of gestation and the risks of not doing so.
The author refused to have her labour induced and signed a document stating that she
withdrew her consent for induction, which she had given by signing a form during her visit
of 29 July. The doctors explained that, in view of the risks to which that decision would
1
2
The term “expectant management” refers to a period of watchful waiting during which no active
intervention takes place.
GE.21-07305