regional updates

Poland. Fundamentalists unite for complete ban on abortion.Attempts to make further restrictions regarding the law on abortion has been taken recently by the fundamentalist forces in Poland. A draft law introducing a complete ban on abortion was submitted to Polish Parliament, together with 450 thousand signatures of support collected mainly before or after Sunday masses. Polish abortion law is one of the most restrictive in Europe and even far more restrictive in practice than on paper. Although it allows for a pregnancy to be terminated under three conditions - including for therapeutic reasons and when it results from a criminal act - legal abortion is almost unavailable for women. Nevertheless, the fundamentalists and the Catholic Church still find the yearly number of 500 pregnancy terminations (in a nation of 10 mln women in reproductive age) unacceptable and are calling for further restrictions. Just few years ago the fundamentalist right wing politicians tried to introduce a provision protecting “life from the moment of conception” into the Constitution of Poland which failed narrowly.

More on abortion law in Poland available at: Federation for Women and Family Planning

Hungary. The new constitution grants protection of foetus. The new Hungarian constitution adopted by the Parliament has been signed by the president Pal Schmitt, and will come to the force on the 1st of January 2012. The right wing FIDESZ and Christian Democratic deputies voted in favour of passing the new law in the 262-to-44 vote, while radical nationalist Jobbik voted against. The decision by the main opposition Socialists and liberal parties to boycott the vote reflected the controversy not just over the contents of the Constitution, but also the way it was drafted and the political polarization that has continued ever since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990 and its satellites moved toward democracy. For FIDESZ on the other hand, the Constitution is to represent a break with Hungary’s communist past. The new constitution appears to be a eulogy to Hungary's Christian roots and past greatness. In the constitution's preamble, the title "The Basic Law of Hungary" is followed by the subtitle "God Bless Hungarians," the first sentence of the Hungarian anthem and a reference to the many Hungarians who became citizens of neighbouring countries following the collapse of the Habsburg Empire. "Motivated by the ideal of a unified Hungarian nation, Hungary shall bear a sense of responsibility for the destiny of Hungarians living outside her borders, shall promote their survival and development, and will continue to support their efforts to preserve their Hungarian culture, and foster their cooperation with each other and with Hungary," reads Article D of the constitution. Although one of the most disputed provisions curbs the powers of the constitutional court on budget and tax matters and allows the president to dissolve Parliament if a budget is not approved, the new provisions regarding protection of foetus from the moment of conception and defining family as a union between man and woman are equally alarming. The new constitution establishes the base for restricting abortion as it states: "Human dignity is inviolable. Everyone has the right to life and human dignity. The life of a foetus will be protected from conception." Article M of the constitution reads that "Hungary protects the institution of marriage between man and woman, a matrimonial relationship voluntarily established, as well as the family as the basis for the survival of the nation".

Source: ASTRA Network

Bulgaria. Anti-abortion campaign started.A total of 34 000 abortions were done in Bulgaria in 2010, out of which 20 000 were conducted on demand. It is estimated that around 12 000 pregnancies were terminated illegally in the country during the same period. Together, the abortion rate reached 60-70 percent of the birth rate. According to the organizers of the anti-abortion campaign that has been just launched in Bulgaria, the phenomenon is alarming in the context of the constant population decline, which is currently around 0,7 percent. The anti-choice campaigners claim that numerous abortion are one of the main reasons of infertility and are responsible for long IVF waiting list. The campaign is supposed to promote healthy sexual habits, especially among teenagers, and prevent unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

Source: Polish Press Agency

Russian Duma Drafts Bill to Cut Abortions.In his recent speech Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged to raise the nation’s birthrate by up to 30% in just three years. Due to a rapidly falling fertility, Russia has experienced a dramatic population decline, going from 148.5 million people in 1995 to 143 million today despite efforts by various governments to boost the birth rate. Unofficial estimates indicate that there are nearly 4 million abortions per year in Russia yet only 1.7 million live births. Lawmakers in the lower house of the Russian parliament are working on legislation that they hope will cut the more than 1 million officially counted abortions taking place annually in Russia. According to the draft, abortion would no longer be qualified as a medical service under the nation’s government-run health system, thus allowing physicians to opt out of doing them. The measure would also increase the monthly payments to pregnant women from the current 2,000 rubles ($70) a month until birth. The legislation could also make it illegal to do abortions in the second half of pregnancy.

Source:European Pro Choice Network

Homophobic speech by members of Moldova’s parliament and intimidation of LGBT human rights defenders. In Moldova a proposal for anti-discrimination legislation which includes protection on the grounds of sexual orientation has been withdrawn following opposition in recent weeks by members of parliament. This opposition has all too often been expressed in language marked by homophobia and intolerance, for example, characterising homosexuals as a danger to society, as trying to impose their “abnormal” practices on others, and as a danger to the survival of the family unit. During this time two human rights defenders working for the rights of LGBT people have experienced intimidation in public, with violent behavior and attacks on property. The members of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called upon all Moldovan members of parliament to accept, in accordance with Recommendation No. R(97) 20 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on “hate speech”, that they have a particular responsibility to refrain from statements which are likely to produce the effect of legitimising, spreading or promoting discrimination or hatred based on intolerance, and to recognize particularly that such speech can endanger the safety and well-being of others.

Written Declaration No 474 PA of COE is available here:CoE

Europe's birth rates on the rise again.According to the 3rd Demography Report published by the Eurostat, Europe's birth rates are rising again, with more babies being born in every country. The 'old continent' still faces a rapidly ageing population, due to rising life expectancies among its half a billion residents. New findings confirm that the sharp decline in fertility rates registered the continent during the 1980s and 1990s has been reversed. Bulgaria, one of the EU's poorest nations, recorded a 30 per cent increase in fertility rates, as did the Czech Republic, one of the wealthiest former communist countries. Irealand is the only EU member state with a fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman, considered optimal for population stability. France's and Britain's fertility rates are 2 and 1.96 respectively, while those elsewhere in Europe average 1.60.Germany continues to record a fertility rate of 1.36. Intriguingly, the rise in birth rates is not due to the survival of the traditional, basic family unit. Throughout the EU, 40 per cent of all marriages end in divorce, and a third of all children are born out of wedlock; in the case of Belgium or Estonia - a small, Northern European state - more than half of all new births are to unmarried women. And the women of Ireland are among the continent's oldest first-time mothers. The EU report indicates that the dominant factor in boosting fertility rates is neither government campaigns nor one-off financial handouts, but rather provision of good child care. Britain's decision to extend paternity leave to working men may have helped increase the country's birth rate, while France's much-admired system of state-funded infant care achieved a similar result. But Germany's offer of tax inducements to its young parents has apparently made no difference.

Source:European Commission

Sexuality Education Petition submitted to the European Parliament. ASTRA Network and the ASTRA Youth Network have submitted a Petition to the European Parliament in April 2011. The Petition calls for introducing obligatory Sexuality Education to the school cirriculum in the EU Member States. The Petition was signed by seven NGOs from four ASTRA and ASTRA Youth countries: Bulgaria (Bulgarian Family Planning and Sexual Health Association and Gender Education Research and Technologies Foundation), Romania (The Association for Gender Equality and Freedom and Euroregional Center for Public Initiatives),Lithuania (Family Planning and Sexual Health Association), and Poland (Federation for Women and Family Planning and "Ponton” Group of Sex Educators).

The Petition can be found here:ASTRA Network