During its recent session, the UN treaty monitoring body for the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) told a
number of countries that they must remove laws and policies regulating abortion
including mandatory counseling and waiting periods. All related documents can
be found here.
Russia
CEDAW objected to Russia's recent measures to provide counseling to women
before they resort to abortion and to mandatory waiting periods. CEDAW referred
to the policy measures as "barriers to access to safe abortion services"
and called for their removal.
The policy measures were
designed to reduce the abortion rate and were successful. The Russian
Federation explained how in the period of 2010-2014 the total number of
abortions dropped by 24.1 per cent (to 881,400 in 2013 from 1,161,700 in 2009)
and the number of abortions per 1,000 women of fertile age declined to 24.5 in
2013 from 30.5 in 2009 (a decrease of 19.7 percent). There was a 33.8%
reduction in abortion among women with their first pregnancy; 27.4% reduction
for abortion for unspecified reasons; 84.6% reduction for criminal abortions.
According to the report,
the reduction in the number of abortions was the result of "systematic
work done to prevent them" which included an increase in the number of
"women's counselling centres with medical and social assistance
offices" to 856 in 2014 from 419 in 2011. 150,000 women were helped at the
centers in 2014.
The Russian explanation
includes:
"An important component in
the complex of measures aimed at the prevention and reduction of abortions is
the creation of centres for providing medical and social support to pregnant
women suffering hardship, the main objective of which centres is to provide
medical, social and psychological assistance to women with unplanned
pregnancies in order to give them a positive alternative to abortion."
"For the purpose of
developing social and psychological care for women, social worker and
psychologist positions have been introduced in women's counselling centres, and
their basic functions are to provide medical and psychological support and
social and legal assistance to women, to provide medical and psychological
support to minors, to prepare women for family life, to implement measures to
prevent pregnancy terminations, to raise awareness among women of the need to
carry a pregnancy to term and to provide further support during
pregnancy."
The waiting periods are
described in the report: "Additional measures aimed at preventing
abortion are put in place by the 2011 Federal Law on the Bases for the
Protection of the Health of Citizens in the Russian Federation. Specifically, a
window of time is set for a woman after she applies to a medical organization
for termination of pregnancy, during which she can reflect on her decision and
consult with a psychologist and a social worker. If the pregnancy is in weeks
4-7 or 11-12, the woman is given 48 hours to reconsider her decision; if the
pregnancy is in weeks 8-10, the woman is given at least seven days. Artificial
termination of pregnancy is performed upon a woman's request if there is
informed voluntary consent."
The "Give me life!"
campaign-- "a large organizational effort to protect the reproductive
health of the public and prevent abortion, particularly among
adolescents"--is underway throughout the country with engagement from
medical organizations, social welfare, education, youth and public
organizations and representatives of various religious faiths and is believed
to have helped reduce the number of children destroyed in abortion.
The objectives for the
Framework for State Family Policy is also detailed in the report and includes
"developing the life-protective function of the family and creating
conditions for ensuring the health of family members, including with regard to
the prevention of abortions." Russia vowed to continue policies to lower
the maternal mortality rate and reduce the number of
abortions.
Slovakia
During review of Slovakia's
report, CEDAW was critical that abortion on request is not covered by public
health insurance, that legal abortion in not available in four districts owing
to conscientious objection, and objected to an amendment to the Healthcare Act in 2009 which "introduced a mandatory 48-hour
waiting period, compulsory counselling and in case of girls under 18 years old,
parental consent prior to abortion and the duty of doctors to report each case
where a woman is seeking abortion to the National Health Information Centre
with personal details".
CEDAW
recommends that Slovakia revise its legislation to ensure universal coverage by
the public health insurance of all costs related to legal abortion, including
abortion on request and revise the Healthcare Law as amended in 2009 and remove
the requirement for mandatory counselling, remove "medically
unnecessary waiting periods", and remove third-party authorization
(parental consent).
CEDAW seeks "unimpeded and
effective access to legal abortion" for all women in the State party, and
wants mandatory referrals in case of conscientious objections by
institutions and wants the information provided by health care professionals to
abortion-minded women to be "science-and evidence-based and covers the
risks of having or not having an abortion to ensure women's full information
and autonomous decision-making."
Malawi
Malawi was told to change its law to legalize abortion and to ensure "its
legal and practical availability, without restrictive reporting requirements,
at least in cases of threats to the life and/or health of the pregnant woman,
rape, incest and serious impairment of the foetus".
Portugal
The Committee objected to new
abortion regulations in Portugal enacted through 2015 amendments to the Law on
Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy of 2007, which mandated four separate
consultations prior to abortion and fees for the abortion. CEDAW told Portugal
to annul the new measures and "organize
its health services so that the exercise of conscientious objection in such
cases does not impede their effective access to reproductive health care
services, including abortion."
United Arab Emirates
CEDAW told United Arab Emirates
that it "notes with concern" that abortion is criminalized
"except in very limited cases, which do not include incest, rape and
threats to the health of the pregnant woman" and urged the State party to
"legalize abortion at least in cases of rape, incest, threats health of
the pregnant woman" and to "remove punitive measures for women who
undergo abortion."
Timor-Leste
CEDAW found fault with article
141 of Timor-Leste's Penal Code which it claims "further restricted
women's access to safe and legal abortions by stipulating that abortion is only
legal when necessary to protect the life of the mother and that, in such cases,
it must be authorised by a panel of three doctors, and by allowing other health
professionals to lodge an objection to the proposed abortion."
The Committee recommends that
the State party: "Review article 141 of the Penal Code to legalize
abortion in cases of rape, incest, threat to the health of the pregnant woman and
serious impairment of the foetus, and remove the requirement of authorization
by a panel of three doctors."
PNCI notes that it was agreed
at ICPD that laws on abortion were to be determined by the national and local
legislative process yet the members of CEDAW continue to pressure countries to
abandon national laws and enact the non-binding pro-abortion 'recommendations
and observations' they issue.