Slovakia Called on the Carpet over Forced Sterilization and Conscientious Objection
[8/29/08]
Slovakia must take urgent action to prevent Roma women from being sterilized without prior and informed consent. This was a key concluding observation from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which reviewed Slovakia on July 2. The Committee called on the government of Slovakia to better monitor public and private health facilities that perform sterilization procedures, ensure that all relevant healthcare providers are aware of and respect women's reproductive rights, and ensure that Roma women who are victims of forced sterilization have recourse to justice.
The Committee also expressed concern about women's access to reproductive healthcare being limited by health professionals claiming conscientious objection. It urged the government to regulate the use of conscientious objection and ensure women are referred to alternative healthcare providers. These recommendations reflect a recent opinion issued by the European Union Network of Experts on Fundamental Rights, which relied heavily on the Center's work when addressing the issue of ensuring access to reproductive healthcare.
Click here to read the concluding observations > >
Click here to read the Center's 2003 report Body and Soul: Forced Sterilization and Other Assaults on Roma Reproductive Freedom in Slovakia > >
For Teen Girl in Poland, Even a Legal Abortion Is Hard to Get
[8/22/08]
Agata, a 14-year-old girl was legally entitled to an abortion under Polish law. But when she sought to end her unwanted pregnancy, multiple hospitals refused to perform the procedure. One even went so far as to leak her personal information to anti-choice advocates, who then harassed Agata for weeks. To make matters worse, she was taken temporarily from her mother's custody because her mother supported her decision to have an abortion.
Such treatment by the state is illegal under both Polish and international law and displays a disturbing apathy for the already precarious mental and physical health of a young pregnant girl. Although she ultimately obtained an abortion, Agata was left emotionally traumatized by the experience. The Center has provided our partner in Poland, the Federation for Women and Family Planning, with an advocacy factsheet that sets forth international human rights standards on rape and international medical standards on teen pregnancy.
Click here to read the factsheet > >
CEDAW Committee Reviews Lithuania
[7/25/08]
In June 2008, the Center and the Lithuania Family Planning and Sexual Health Association submitted a shadow letter on Lithuania to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which reviewed the country on July 2. Our letter focuses on discriminatory or inadequate laws, policies and practices related to the reproductive health and rights of women and adolescents. Specifically, it draws the Committee's attention to pending legislation that would restrict abortion and the newly passed National Family Policy, which reinforces negative gender stereotypes. Other concerns raised are the lack of information about and access to modern contraception, and the government's failure to provide youth with adequate sex education.
In its concluding observations, the Committee addressed all of the issues raised in the shadow letter. Specifically, it called on Lithuania to take concrete measures to enhance women’s access to health care, in particular to sexual and reproductive health services, and pointed out shortcomings in the National Family Policy. The Committee also showed deep concern about the pending restrictions on abortion, urging Lithuania "to ensure that the draft law is in line with the Convention and accordingly will not lead to women seeking unsafe medical procedures, such as illegal abortion, which may seriously risk their health and lives." Lithuania was asked to provide the Committee with written information on the steps undertaken to implement these recommendations within two years.
Click here to read the Center's shadow letter > >
Click here to read the Committee's concluding observations > >
The Center Comments on Lithuania's Proposed Abortion Law
[7/25/08]
In March 2008, the Center submitted comments to the Lithuanian parliament and to relevant ministries on draft legislation that would restrict abortion. The comments argue that the legislation would be harmful to women's health and human rights.
Click here to read the Center's comments > >
Council of Europe Takes Groundbreaking Step
[April 28, 2008]
On April 16th, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) approved a major resolution on access to safe and legal abortion. The Assembly urged all member states to "decriminalize abortion, within reasonable gestational limits" and to guarantee women's access to safe and legal abortion.
"This resolution shows the potential of regional human rights systems for advancing women's reproductive rights, "Director of the Center's International Legal Program Luisa Cabal commented on reading the resolution. "PACE's affirmation of the right to safe and legal abortion should prompt other regional bodies to call upon their member states to ensure women’s health and dignity."
Drafted by the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, the resolution aims to remove all barriers to safe, affordable abortion services. In addition to its provisions on abortion, the resolution urges states to develop evidence-based, appropriate sexual and reproductive health policies, including compulsory sex education. States must also provide access to affordable contraception and family planning services.
Slovak Constitutional Court Rejects Attempt to Outlaw Abortion
[December 11, 2007]
On December 4, the Slovak Constitutional Court rebuffed an attempt by conservative politicians to outlaw abortion. Members of the Christian Democratic party had challenged the country’s abortion law, which allows the procedure upon request during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, on the grounds that it violates the right to life of fetuses. The Center submitted a friend of the court brief in the case, arguing that giving rights to fetuses would allow legal claims that undermined women’s fundamental rights to equality, health, life, and privacy. The Center had made a similar argument in 2003 at the European Court of Human Rights in another case involving fetal rights, Vo v. France. In that case, the court declined to give a fetus the legal rights of a born person. The Slovak case is the first in which a national-level high court has applied the Vo v. France ruling.
The Center filed its brief together with the CUNY Law School Human Rights Clinic, Slovak Family Planning Association, and ProChoice Slovakia.
Click here to read the brief in English > >
Click here to read the brief in Slovak > >
U.S.-based Sex-Ed Program Challenged in International Human Rights Case: Center Charges that Croatia is Endangering the Lives of its Young People
[October 10, 2007]
The Center for Reproductive Rights along with partners filed the first human rights legal challenge to a faith-based sex-education program based in the U.S. The program, TeenSTAR, promotes abstinence, discourages the use of contraception, reinforces gender stereotypes, and fosters discrimination against the LGBT community. If the case is successful, it could lay the groundwork for more successful challenges against similar faith-based programs (including those funded by the U.S.-government) in other countries around the world.
Click here to learn more about the case > >
Click here to read the Center's legal memorandum > >
European Court of Human Rights Rejects Poland’s Appeal in Landmark Abortion Decision
[September 2007]
The European Court of Human Rights announced on September 25, 2007 that they will not review their earlier judgment in the case of Tysiąc v Poland, despite a request to do so by the Polish government. In their March 2007 decision, the Court held for the first time that governments have a duty to establish effective mechanisms to ensure women’s access to abortion where it is legal. The case centered on the tragic story of Alicja Tysiąc, a Polish woman who is nearly blind because she was forced to continue a pregnancy that threatened her health.
"Thousands of women are denied access to abortions they need and are legally entitled to in Poland every year," said Christina Zampas, Senior Legal Adviser for Europe at the Center. "This decision means that the Polish government—and other governments in Europe—must take steps to make sure that women like Tysiąc don't needlessly suffer at the whim of doctors." This final judgment is a tremendous victory for women in Poland and in all of Europe.
Call for Applications to Legal Training
[May 25, 2007]
The Center and its partners–the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF) and the Network of East-West Women (NEWW)–are pleased to announce a call for applications to the second Women's Human Rights Training Institute (WHRTI), 2007-2009. The goal of the Institute is to strengthen the ability of lawyers from Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic states and the Caucasus to litigate cases concerning women's human rights. The program is comprised of a two-year, four-part series of workshops bringing together the same group of fifteen participants over the course of the training.
Proposed Polish Constitutional Amendments that Threatened Women's Rights Have Failed
[April 13, 2007]
In a victory for women's rights, the Polish Parliament rejected several constitutional amendments that had the potential to ban abortion in all circumstances. The amendments sought to extend the Constitution's protection of life and human dignity to the moment of conception. Extending this protection threatened to further restrict Poland's current law, which permits abortion only to save a woman's health and life, in cases of fetal impairment, and when the pregnancy is a result of a crime. Although the majority of the Parliament supported the proposed changes, they were unsuccessful in obtaining the necessary two-thirds vote. The leader of the League of Polish Families, a political party in the ruling coalition, made a statement soon after the voting that his party will continue efforts to strengthen legal protection of fetal life.
The Center and our partner, the Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning, submitted comments to key government officials and members of Parliament arguing that international human rights treaty provisions do not extend "right to life" protections to fetuses and that recognizing the right to life from conception threatens women's basic human rights, including rights to dignity, equality, and privacy.
Abortion Legalized in Portugal
[April 2007]
President Cavaco Silva of Portugal recently signed a bill to legalize abortion on request during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. In March, the Portuguese parliament voted to reform its abortion law, which had criminalized the procedure except when a woman's life or health was at risk and in cases of rape. While Portugal's legal restrictions on abortion were in place, tens of thousands of Portuguese women underwent illegal abortions every year, many under unsafe conditions and some resulting in prosecution. Under the new law, a woman in the first 10 weeks of an unwanted pregnancy will be able to seek safe abortion services without fear of criminal prosecution.
Center Applauds Landmark Abortion Decision by European Court of Human Rights
[March 22, 2007]
The European Court of Human Rights held on March 20, 2007, for the first time, that governments have a duty to establish effective mechanisms for ensuring that women have access to abortion where it is legal. The case centers on the tragic story of Alicja Tysiąc, a Polish woman who nearly went blind because she was forced to continue a pregnancy that threatened her health. "There are thousands of women who are denied access to abortions they need and are legally entitled to in Poland every year," said Christina Zampas, Senior Legal Adviser for Europe at the Center. "This decision means that the Polish government—and other governments in Europe—must take steps to make sure that women like Tysiąc don't needlessly suffer at the whim of doctors."
Training Lawyers in Poland on How to Use the European Court of Human Rights
[February 13, 2007]
This month, in collaboration with the Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning and the Warsaw University Law Clinic, the Center is leading a capacity-building training for Polish lawyers. The four-day session will train approximately 15 lawyers on how to take reproductive rights cases to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Throughout Europe, reproductive rights advocates are finding that the ECHR has tremendous potential to advance reproductive rights in the region. In fact, one case currently pending before the Court may do just that. Tysiąc v. Poland centers on a Polish woman who is severely visually impaired and was denied an abortion that would have prevented further irreversible damage to her eyesight. While abortion is legally restricted in Poland, it is permitted to avert threats to a pregnant woman's physical health, such as the one the applicant faced. The Tysiąc case, in which the Center filed an amicus brief, was recently declared admissible by the Court, and is expected to be decided this year.
While the countries of Western Europe have rapidly progressed in securing women's right to reproductive health care, the women in East Central Europe face strong challenges to their reproductive rights (To read more about reproductive rights in East Central Europe, see Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives, East Central Europe). The contraceptive prevalence rate in the region is one of the lowest in the world and there are continuing efforts in many countries of the region to erode the right of a woman to decide whether or not to have an abortion. Safe motherhood programs tend to ignore the specific needs of rural and ethnic minority women, leading in some cases to discriminatory practices. HIV/AIDS rates in the region are steadily growing, especially among adolescents, and the collapse of basic public health systems throughout the region makes the containment of the HIV virus even more difficult.
At a time when the European Union has expanded to take in new member states from East Central Europe, the divide between east and west on women's health grows. For example, estimates based on UN and WHO data show that abortion rate is extraordinarily higher in Eastern Europe than in other parts of Europe. This is due to the fact that contraceptives are far less accessible and utilized in Eastern Europe and that adolescents do not have access to sexuality education or youth friendly programs; high rates of abortion usually reflect the lack of access to modern methods of family planning, and low rates generally indicate accurate sex education and easily accessible family planning services. To narrow this widening gap with other parts of Europe, nations of East Central Europe should promote laws and policies that advance the reproductive rights of women and adolescents in the region.
Regional Partner Organizations
