A/HRC/14/39 B. Rights in focus: the right to life, the right to health and the right to education and information 1. Right to life 22. International and regional guarantees of the right to life require States to take measures to protect individuals from arbitrary and preventable loss of life.53 The number of preventable maternal deaths suggests a systematic failure to provide services needed by women to survive childbirth, which may constitute a violation of the right to life. Various human rights bodies have recognized the obligation of States to protect women’s right to life in the context of pregnancy and childbirth, with the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights characterizing preventable maternal mortality as a violation of women’s right to life.54 Several treaty bodies have more specifically underlined the link between unsafe abortion and high rates of maternal mortality and have asked States to ensure that women are not forced to undergo clandestine abortions that endanger their lives.55 23. In the context of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, the right to life is closely connected to the human rights to health, education and information, and equality in the exercise and enjoyment of all human rights. The ability of women to survive pregnancy and childbirth is contingent upon their access to quality reproductive and maternal health care, freedom from social, cultural, economic and legal discrimination, and autonomy over decisions relating to their reproductive lives. 2. Right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health 24. The right to health, including sexual and reproductive health, encompasses both the freedom to control one’s health and body as well as the right to enjoy a variety of facilities, goods, services and conditions necessary for the realization of the highest attainable standard of health.56 53 54 55 56 GE.10-12949 Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 6, para. 5. See also European Commission on Human Rights, Tavares v. France, decision of 12 September 1991, application No. 16593/90, where the Commission found that article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights means not only that the State has to abstain from intentional killing, but also that it must take the necessary measures to protect life. African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, resolution on maternal mortality in Africa; Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 28, para. 10. See also for example: Human Rights Committee concluding observations: Hungary (CCPR/CO/74/HUN), para. 11; Mali (CCPR/CO/77/MLI), para. 14; Zambia, (CCPR/C/ZMB/CO/3), para. 18; CEDAW concluding observations: Madagascar (A/49/38), para. 244. See for example: Human Rights Committee concluding observations: Chile (CCPR/C/79/Add.104), para. 15; Guatemala (CCPR/CO/72/GTM), para. 19; Ireland (CCPR/C/IRL/CO/3), para. 13; Madagascar (CCPR/C/MDG/CO/3), para. 14; Mali (CCPR/CO/77/MLI), para. 14; Peru (CCPR/CO/70/PER), para. 20; Poland (CCPR/C/79/Add.110), para. 11; Zambia (CCPR/C/ZMB/CO/3), para. 18; CEDAW concluding observations: Belize (A/54/38), para. 56; Colombia (A/54/38), para. 393; Dominican Republic (A/53/38), para. 337; Myanmar, (A/55/38), para. 129; Committee against Torture (CAT) concluding observations: Chile (CAT/CR/32/5), para. 4 (h); Nicaragua (CAT/C/NIC/CO/1), para. 16. See also: Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), art. 14, para. 2 (c), adopted at the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, 2003. CESCR, general comment No. 14, paras. 8 and 12. 11