Advancement in reproductive medicine also comes with responsibilities for protection and respect for human rights. Reproductive rights include the right to reproduce, maternity protection and childcare, access to adequate health care facilities, including information, counseling, and services in the family.

More specifically, innovative medicine has significant influence in the exercise of reproductive rights, including the decision on whether to have children, carry or terminate an unintended pregnancy, choice of family planning and contraception technique, genetic and gender selection, mode of pregnancy, amongst others. This paper will examine some of these contemporary development in medicine in the light of technological innovations and legal implications of this development on reproductive rights, amongst other rights, and other social cum medical issues particularly in relation to women’s reproductive health.

The paper will review whether a fetus can be accorded with protective rights and the relevant legal structure surrounding same in the light of reproductive freedom, legal permissibility or restraints. It also examines the legal framework for the protection of women and how innovative medicine enhances or undermine reproductive rights.

Richmond Idaeho is a legal practitioner at Mixta Africa. He is a trustee and co-founder of The MediSSupport Foundation, a non-governmental organisation providing medical support to people living with sickle cell anemia, and other life-threatening conditions. He is also a writer and private researcher with interests in health and employment law, social justice and sustainability. He has a background in Philosophy, with extensive study in Ethics and Philosophy of Science. He also holds a second bachelor’s degree in law, Master of Laws, and Master of Business Administration in view at the University of East London. He has conducted several research on medical law and ethics, and reproductive health culminating in several publications to his credit on jurisprudence (also feminist jurisprudence), legal philosophy, bioethics, reproductive justice, public, health, and medical law, amongst others. His works are well cited and available both in print and online media.

He has been a guest at different health fora providing insights on medical and health law, and he is the author of “Revisiting the United States Abortion Law and the Legal Implications” in the book Contemporary Issues in Clinical Bioethics – Medical, Ethical and Legal Perspectives.