Rhonda Copelon, NY human rights attorney, dead at 65

Rhonda Copelon was a pioneering human rights attorney who helped open U.S. courts to victims of international abuses - especially cases involving violence against women.

Copelon died Thursday of ovarian cancer at 65, according to officials of the City University of New York, where she was a law professor for almost three decades. She also worked at the Center for Constitutional Rights, a nonprofit organization founded by attorneys representing the civil rights movement.

Copelon played a key role in establishing that gross human rights abuses committed abroad could be addressed by U.S. courts. She was a champion of women's reproductive health before the U.S. Supreme Court, which narrowly upheld an amendment that prohibited Medicaid reimbursement for most abortions. - AP