We stand at a crossroads of maternal and child health, where progress is under threat amid a myriad of intersecting challenges, such as rising climate change, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemic emergencies, an increasing number and intensity of armed conflicts, and mounting costs of living. This evolving landscape is often overlooked by global health law.

Yet Larry Gostin recognized this imperative to act. When he published the groundbreaking 2014 treatise on Global Health Law, building on the work of others like Virginia Leary, the field of global health law was still being developed. This treatise offered a comprehensive definition and understanding of global health law. Others, including myself, used Larry’s work to formulate policy recommendations and strengthen references to the right to health in global health.

Larry has continued to make significant contributions over the years to human rights in global health. His work contributed to describing and defining the legal and policy frameworks to respond to an ever-developing international landscape. He helped us to better understand how a human rights framework can be applied across health issues. His emphasis on the right to health under international law as influencing policy has contributed to the advancement of global health law.

In the past decade, we have witnessed continued progress in the development of policies and mechanisms to implement the international legal frameworks governing maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015, with Goal 3 having specific targets for reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality, as well as advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights. Expanding this focus, SDG Goal 5 urges the elimination of gender-based violence.

The same year, the Global Health Strategy for Women, Children and Adolescents 2016–2030 was launched by WHO and its partners. This strategy included targets to drive international and national efforts to improve maternal and child health outcomes and address the social, economic, and environmental determinants of health through global health initiatives and frameworks. Drawing from these advancements in May 2024, the 77th World Health Assembly adopted a resolution to accelerate progress towards reducing maternal, newborn, and child mortality to achieve SDG targets 3.1 and 3.2.

These policy advancements used the law to achieve the reduction of maternal and child mortality and improve health outcomes for women, children, and adolescents. Yet despite these advances, we are at a crossroads, where we risk prolonged stagnation and even regression if we do not address the crucial needs of women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health and well-being with urgency. Larry has continued to stress this need.

The international legal order remains under threat from courts that fail to respect international law and harbor regressive thinking. In the United States, we have witnessed the Supreme Court’s severe limiting of a woman’s right to an abortion that was recognized decades ago in Roe v. Wade. This has been viewed by much of the world as a significant setback for key maternal and child health rights. We are now seeing how this judicial decision has been used to oppress women and children, causing a ripple effect on health outcomes across the world.

A human rights approach to these issues is paramount, and Larry’s work in the field provides a foundation for ensuring no women or children are left behind. Larry’s efforts to convince policymakers of the relevance of the right to health under international law will contribute to the post-2030 agenda and to developing the global health principles that will guide our understanding of human development, armed conflicts, natural disasters, health emergencies, and climate change. Where we need to return to agreed principles of global health law to protect human beings, Larry has helped us do this, and the legacy of his work will continue to help us use global health principles to guide our responses to emerging challenges for safeguarding maternal and child health.