CIRCUMVENTION TOURISM: UNDERSTANDING THE ESSENCE AND DEFINITION OF PROBLEMS

Abstract

This article analyzes the concept of circumvention tourism and key problems associated with this phenomenon. It is noted that comprehensive research dedicated to circumvention tourism is lacking in Ukrainian legal science. The contribution of G. Cohen to the study of this issue is important, and his research “Circumvention tourism” (2012) is the first extensive work on the problematic issues of circumvention medical tourism. The decision of the Supreme Court of Ireland in the case of “Attorney General v. X” laid the groundwork for further discussion on the legality of circumvention medical tourism. It recognized that the schoolgirl had the right to abortion under Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution, as there was a “real and substantial risk” to her life. The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of “Planned Parenthood v. Casey” allowed for a conceptual change in the approach to abortions, giving state legislative bodies the ability to make decisions regarding their implementation. Three groups of problems arising from the existence of circumvention medical tourism have been identified. The first group includes medical problems such as the threat to continuity of care or the possibility of transmitting infections prevalent in the patient’s destination country. The second group consists of ethical problems, including the likelihood of disclosing patients’ health information without their consent, discrimination based on race, gender, skin color, or religious beliefs, and conflicts of interest. The third group comprises problems of legal content. The following issues have been considered: compliance with the legislation of the destination country, as there may be different legislative norms regarding the provision of medical services; proper patient information about future medical interventions; medical repatriation; criminalization of circumvention medical tourism, taking into account the issue of legal responsibility for patients receiving medical services in the destination country, considering the illegal nature of such services in the country of residence.