
Poland to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention
Polish Minister of Justice, Zbigniew Ziobro, and Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy, Marlena MalÄ…g, both announced that Poland will soon start the process of withdrawal from the Convention on preventing and combating violence…

Slovak Parliament to discuss 4 bills restricting access to abortion in July
Slovak Parliament is set to start new session on 7 July, which is scheduled to run until 17 July.
4 new legislative proposals aimed at restricting access to abortion have been registered to be discussed and voted upon…

Montenegro becomes first country in Balkans to legalise same-sex civil partnerships
Montenegro has become the first European country outside both Western Europe and the EU to legalise same-sex civil partnerships.
A new bill passed on Wednesday gives same-sex couples equal legal rights as heterosexual ones except for child…

Romania Vying with Poland and Hungary to Ban Gender Education
Vying with Poland and Hungary, the Romanian Parliament adopted an amendment to the National Education Law seeking to prohibit information on gender identity in schools, universities and other educational spaces. The amendment…

Croatian women show the middle finger to abortion remarks
Croatian politicians were left in no doubt about the strength of feeling on the subject of abortion in the country, after remarks in pre-election debates prompted a backlash visualised by perhaps the most defiant gestures…

Polish president pledges to “defend children from LGBT ideology†ahead of election
Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, has published a set of pledges to support Polish families if he wins a second term in elections later this month. Among his promises is to “defend children from LGBT ideologyâ€.
Duda…

Thousands of Alabanians protest in Tirana after a minor was raped
On 4th June, thousands of people protested in the streets of Tirana.
The protest, organised by a group of secondary school students, was a reaction to a rape of a 15-year old student, who was assaulted by a 65-year old…

Lithuanian Minister of Health leans in to conservative opponents of SRHR
At the beginning of 2019, Lithuanian Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists asked the State Commission on Drugs and Medicine Reimbursement  to provide reimbursement for hormonal contraception (hormonal…

Hungary rolls back legal protections, puts trans and intersex people at risk
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On 19 May 2020, following weeks of international outcry, the Hungarian Parliament voted 133 in favour, 57 opposed, to approve an omnibus bill, one article of which replaces the category of “sex†on the…

Polish bans on abortion and sexuality education forwaded to parliamentary committees
Today, Polish Parliament has voted on civic draft bills that (if introduced) would effectively ban abortion and criminalize sexuality education. The voting took place amidst COVID-19 outbreak, making it impossible to organise a street…

ASTRA Network's statement on Polish bans on abortion and sexuality education
ASTRA, Central and Eastern European Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, stands in solidarity with Polish people that are currently facing a possibility of introducing both a total ban on abortion and criminalisation…

Joint civil society statement on COVID-19 and abortion in Europe
ASTRA Network has endorsed a joint civil society statement on COVID-19 and abortion in Europe.
The statement, prepared by our long-time partner organisation Center for Reproductive Rights, was published today with endorsement …