burning issue

ASTRA Network’s letter to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. 25 organizations-members of ASTRA Network supported by Action Canada for Population and Development (Canada), Association for Women's Rights in Development, Catholics for Choice (USA), Center for Reproductive Rights, Family Planning Association (Ireland), French Family Planning Movement (France), International Women’s Health Coalition, IPAS, Sensoa (Belgium), Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (Sweden) expressed deep concern with the result of voting on the resolution “Women’s access to lawful medical care: the problem of unregulated use of conscientious objection” that took place during the 35th sitting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in a letter sent to the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. The rationale behind the draft of the resolution was to regulate the use of conscientious objection by reproductive healthcare providers. The resolution did not pass as proposed and its provisions were severely diluted by a number of harmful anti-abortion amendments. As a result, instead of offering a set of comprehensive guidelines from a regional or international body on how governments must balance a woman's right to reproductive health and autonomy with an individual's right to conscientious objection, the adopted resolution: (1) fails to oblige health care institutions to provide legal health services to the public; (2) enables both doctors and institutions to refuse emergency care without being held liable; (3) is based on the false assumption that the practice of conscientious objection is adequately regulated in the vast majority of Council of Europe member states.

The letter is available here: ASTRA Network

The adopted resolution is available here: CoE

regional updates

Anti-gay Protest During the Gay Pride and Attack on Activists at the Headquarters of Women in Black in Belgrade. The headquarters of the peace group Women in Black were invaded in Belgrade, Serbia. This incident took place just before the Pride Parade in Belgrade, which indicates that homophobia is the motive of the attackers, a statement declared. "A politically motivated attack on the women and men activists of Woman in Black happened because we clearly and unequivocally support the rights of LGBT people and the organization of the Pride Parade, just as political engagement of Woman in Black also includes a clear condemnation of the crimes committed in our name," said the statement issued by Women in Black demanding that the responsible institutions of Serbia find the perpetrators and punish the attackers. The Pride that took place on the day following the attack was the first Gay Pride parade in Serbia since a 2001 when the event was broken up in violent clashes provoked by far-right extremists. This year again, anti-gay protesters have fought running battles with police, throwing petrol bombs and stones at armed police, in an effort to disrupt a Gay Pride march. The office of the ruling Democratic Party was briefly set on fire, and at least one shot was fired. Calm was eventually restored but more than 100 people, mostly police, were injured, with another 100 arrested. The developments are unfortunate given that fact that this year's event was being seen as a test of how far the country has come from the ultra-nationalism and violence of the 1990s and on its path to EU membership.

Source: B92

Russia: European Court Rules Gay Pride Ban Unlawful. Russia Should Allow March and Guarantee Freedom of Assembly.The European Court of Human Rights delivered its decision in a case of Nikolai Alexeyev v. Russia and said that Russia has breached the European Convention on Human Rights by banning 2006, 2007 and 2008 Moscow Prides. The Court stressed that “the mere risk of a demonstration creating a disturbance was not sufficient to justify its ban. If every probability of tension and heated exchanges between opposing groups during a demonstration resulted in a demonstration’s prohibition, society would be deprived of hearing differing views on questions which offended the sensitivity of the majority opinion, and that ran contrary to the Convention principles.”The decision by the European Court of Human Rights is a confirmation of its case-law established on 3 May 2007 in a case of Bączkowski and Others v. Poland. In that case the Polish LGBTI activists successfully challenged the ban of 2005 Warsaw LGBTI Pride event. The Court stated that freedom of assembly, guaranteed by the European Convention of Human Rights, belongs to all, and Poland, by banning LGBTI Pride event, breached the European Convention on Human Rights and acted discriminatory on the grounds of sexual orientation. Moreover, the decision reinforces the duty of the Russian state to provide full and adequate protection to LGBTI public events from any attempts to disturb them or from those who violently oppose these events.

Link to the ECHR press release: ECHR

The Human Rights Committee issued recommendations for the Polish government regarding the implementation the provisions of the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights.The Committee criticized the Polish Law on equal treatment as it is not exhaustive and does not cover discrimination based on sexual orientation, disability, religion or age in the fields of education, health care, social protection and housing. According the recommendation, the State party should further amend the Law on equal treatment so that discrimination based on all grounds and in all areas is adequately covered. Further, the Committee called on Poland to increase the proportion of women in the public and private sector, and criticized the abolition in 2005 of the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for the Equality of Men and Women. According to recommendations, the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Equality of Men and Women should be reinstituted as an independent national equality body. The big chunk of recommendations is concerned with the effects of restrictive abortion law. The Committee calls on Poland to urgently review the effects of the restrictive anti-abortion law on women. Statistics on the use of illegal abortion should be gathered and regulations to prohibit the improper use and performance of the “conscience clause” by the medical profession should be introduced. Finally, say the concluding observations, the State party should strengthen measures aimed at the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, by inter alia making a comprehensive range of contraceptives widely available at an affordable price and including them on the list of subsidized medicines. The Committee listed the adoption of the Law on Domestic Violence (2005) and setting up the National Programme on Preventing Domestic Violence (2006-2016) and including the definition of trafficking in human beings into the Penal Code (2010) as positive developments during the reporting period under consideration. The next report will be submitted in 2015.

More: OHCHR

The directive on patients' rights on cross-border healthcare.At present if a European citizen wants to get treatment in another country they do not know if they if will be refunded and how that may happen. One must anticipate the cost without knowing whether they will get a refund. So far there have been difficulties that citizens have brought before the European Court of Justice. Therefore, the European Parliament has said it must legislate to solve this problem. After the European Court of Justice have given its opinion, confirming patients' rights as regards freedom of movement in the EU, the proposed directive on cross-border health care was discussed by the European Parliament's public health committee. The directive is designed to allow patient mobility. We already have mobility of workers and students. It's part of the fundamental rights of European citizens. This does not however encourage medical tourism. We simply want to allow a wider range of public health for patients. It is very important - especially in border regions. If the directive is approved, patients will have a choice about the place where they seek treatment and the possibility of having the best possible care. There will be centres with national contacts to access information relating to health care in other countries. Currently, prepayment, prior authorisation and rare diseases are the most debated issues related to the directive among European Governments. Some EU countries are concerned about the cost - and whether you should pay-up front or be refunded later. After the second-reading draft report was adopted by 47 votes to 2 with 1 abstention by the EP Environment and Public Health Committee, next step will be the 2nd reading during the plenary sitting of the European Parliament in January 2011.

More:EP

Anti-choice amendment in the EU’s 2011 annual budget. A controversial amendment was introduced into the European Union 2011 annual budget voted during the last European Parliament Plenary Session. This amendment prevents EU financial support to development programs, NGOs or governments working in the field of SRHR. The adopted amendment 495 states as follows: The European Parliament stresses that Community assistance should not be given to any authority, organization or programme which supports or participates in the management of an action which involves such human rights abuses as coercive abortion, involuntary sterilization or infanticide, especially where such actions apply their priorities through psychological, social, economic or legal pressure, thus finally implementing the specific Cairo ICPD prohibition on coercion or compulsion in sexual and reproductive health matters; calls on the Commission to present a report on the implementation of the EU’s external assistance covering this programme. (SECTION III — COMMISSION, Title 21 —Development and relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States).

More generally on the budget:EP

EU Parliament Draft Report identifies same-sex marriage as a fundamental right.The European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs has prepared a Draft report with a resolution “on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union (2009-2010) – institutional aspects after the Treaty of Lisbon”. Its rapporteur is EPP Hungarian MEP Kinga Gál. Under the heading “The new post-Lisbon fundamental-rights architecture,” item 1 of the proposed resolution draws attention to all EU Parliament’s resolutions and oral questions with debate on specific fundamental right issues during the present legislature. Among the latter, it makes a short reference to last September 7th oral question with debate on “discrimination on same-sex married or in civil-partnership couples.” According to Mrs. Viviane Reding, the 2004 Directive on Freedom of Movement should be interpreted in such a broad way that “if you live in a legally recognized same sex partnership or marriage in a country A, you have the right – and that is a fundamental right – to take this status and the one of your partner to the country B.” According to the Commissioner, a refusal by some Member States to recognize same-sex marriages celebrated in the Netherlands or in Spain in their own national legal and administrative system would be tantamount to “a violation of EU law”, and, according the recent report, a “discrimination against same-sex marriages.

In-vitro fertlization debated by the Polish Parliament and street. Polish parliamentarians began debating laws regulating in vitro fertilization. After the conservative government of Donald Tusk took office in 2007 it promised state financing for it but the legislation was bogged down in heated debate and controversy. After the debate in the parliament rejected 3, and sent other 3 to parliamentary committee. The ruling party, conservative Civic Platform, has two competing draft bills — one restricting accessibility to IVF and banning pre-implementational diagnosis and making in vitro funding available only to married couples and the other which would allow IVF for married as well as unmarried couples, and the freezing of surplus embryos without recourse to their destruction. The procedure is currently legal in Poland but not regulated and only accessible to those, who can pay for it. It's an issue that takes on added urgency with a population expected to age in coming decades and a ballooning deficit that will make it harder to support the aged. The issue caused also heated debate within the structures of the Catholic Church. After one of the Church’s officials threatened to excommunicate any lawmakers who voted for state funding for IVF, the catholic bishops sent a letter to the country's prime minister, president and leaders in parliament that backs away from the excommunication threat but still argues strongly against allowing the procedure, calling it the "younger sister of eugenics." Paralelly, the issue is being debated by the Polish street. About 70 Poles have rallied outside a Roman Catholic bishop's residence in Warsaw in opposition to the church's campaign against in vitro fertilization. A liberal politician who organized the rally on Thursday, Janusz Palikot, nailed a copy of Poland's constitution to a wooden cross to emphasize his view that the church is violating the separation of church and state. One protester held a sign that read, "Poland is not Iran" while other demonstrators chanted, "The constitution, and not the Bible.

Source:Federation for Women and Family Planning