IMPLICATIONS OF SPECIAL GUARDIANSHIP ON THE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS OF ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES IN USA AND ROMANIA

Special guardianship is a civil law measure of protection which may be instituted where a vulnerable adult suffers a total and, where appropriate, permanent impairment of his or her mental faculties and who needs to be continuously represented in the exercise of his or her rights and freedoms. Establishing such a civil law protection measure for an adult suffering from intellectual and psycho-social disabilities entails a number of major legal consequences. This study aims to analyse what are the implications of special guardianship on the reproductive rights of adults with disabilities and whether Romanian legislation in this area, amended in 2022 by the entry into force of Law no. 140/2022, provides sufficient guarantees to protect the reproductive rights of adults with disabilities. In order to understand whether the Romanian legislation provides sufficient safeguards to protect the reproductive rights of adults with disabilities who benefit from a civil law protection measure, this study uses a comparative look between the Romanian legislation and the USA legislation. In USA, the reproductive rights of people with disabilities are an important and complex concern, involving both legal and social issues. Roe v. Wade, a landmark US Supreme Court decision issued on January 22, 1973, recognized a woman's right to choose to terminate a pregnancy, holding that prohibiting abortion in most cases violates the privacy rights protected by the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. The ruling was based on the argument that women have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, and that state restrictions on abortion were unconstitutional. In 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, leaving the regulation of abortion in the hands of the states.