European Court of Human Rights Rules Poland’s Denial of Legal Reproductive Care Violates Human Rights (Updated 4.01.21) The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Poland’s failure to ensure the applicant’s timely access to prenatal diagnostic examinations and information, which would have enabled her to decide whether or not to seek a legal abortion, violated her rights under the European Convention […]
In July 2004, in a case that could have undermined abortion rights across Europe, today the European Court of Human Rights refused to treat a fetus as a person under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The Court upheld a 1999 decision by France’s highest court in the case […]
Commissioner for Human Rights Calls on Slovak Government to Accept Responsibility for Failing to Protect Women from Illegal Sterilizations and to Enact Laws to End Practice On October 29, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe concluded that “it can reasonably be assumed” that Romani women in Slovakia were sterilized without their […]
At the conclusion of a criminal investigation tainted by strong-arm tactics, the Slovak Deputy Prime Minister of Human Rights and Minorities Pál Csáky rejected the findings of a human rights report that documented 110 cases of Romani women who were forcibly and coercively sterilized in public hospitals in eastern Slovakia. “The continued harassment and intimidation […]
Amnesty International, Center for Reproductive Rights, European Roma Rights Center,Human Rights Watch, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Today, nine international human rights groups joined forces to urge Slovakia to conduct an impartial and adequate investigation of illegal sterilizations of Romani women. In a joint statement, the groups urged the Slovak government to address serious […]
The Global Gag Rule penalizes non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 561 countries that receive family planning assistance funds from the U.S. These NGOs are prohibited from providing abortion-related services, including counseling and referrals, and/or lobbying on abortion issues. Depending on the abortion laws in their countries, NGOs are feeling the Global Gag Rule’s effects in different […]
Romani women in Slovakia continue to be subject to grave violations of their human rights, particularly their reproductive rights, even though a communist-era law offering monetary incentives for sterilization has been rescinded. A three-month fact-finding in late 2002 by the Center for Reproductive Rights and Poradna pre obcianske a ludské práva (Centre for Civil and […]
Statement of Nancy Northup, President, Center for Reproductive Rights “Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $15 billion HIV/AIDS plan aimed at combating the AIDS pandemic internationally over the next five years. We applaud the House’s decision because U.S. financial commitment to providing access to effective prevention, treatment, and care for people living with […]
Romani Women Interrogated and Threatened Following Report Documenting Abuses in Slovakia’s Hospitals New York, NY Law enforcement officials and medical personnel in hospitals are reportedly threatening and retaliating against Romani women in Slovakia, following the release of a new report that documents grave human rights violations in Slovakia’s public hospitals. The report, released last week […]
Rights Violated by Health Care System New York, NY – Romani women are being coerced or forced to undergo sterilization procedures in eastern Slovakia’s government-run health facilities, according to a new report released today by the Center for Reproductive Rights and Poradna pre obcianske a ludské práva, in collaboration with Ina Zoon. Two hundred and […]