Parliamentary Network E-News

Volume 9
No. 10
November, 2015
 
Focus on the United Nations

CEDAW Tells Countries to Remove Laws on Abortion

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.

International Pro-Life Actions

U.S. Bishops Declare "Intrinsic Evil" of Abortion Must Always Be Opposed

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved revisions to "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" on political responsibility during their recent meeting in Baltimore. The updates in the document  "take account of recent developments in the United States in both domestic and foreign policy" including "the ongoing destruction of over one million innocent human lives each year by abortion" and physician-assisted suicide.

The bishops warn against "intrinsically evil" actions which must always "be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned."  Abortion and euthanasia are listed as prime examples because they "have become preeminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others". Human cloning and destructive research on human embryos, and "other acts that directly violate the sanctity and dignity of human life", are also intrinsically evil and "must always be opposed".

Catholics are called "to make practical judgments regarding good and evil choices in the political arena" and the bishops warn that the taking of innocent life in abortion cannot be equated as "just one issue among many" and must always be opposed.

Catholics serving in elected office are called to have "a heroic commitment" and "must commit themselves to the pursuit of the virtues, especially courage, justice, temperance, and prudence. The culmination of these virtues is the strong public promotion of the dignity of every human person as made in the image of God in accord with the teachings of the Church, even when it conflicts with current public opinion. Catholic politicians and legislators must recognize their grave responsibility in society to support laws shaped by these fundamental human values and oppose laws and policies that violate life and dignity at any stage from conception to natural death."

Opposing evil should also "open our eyes to the good we must do, that is, to our positive duty to contribute to the common good and to act in solidarity with those in need."

Read more here.

International Pro-Abortion Actions

Focus on Ipas

Pro-abortion NGO Ipas, formerly known as International Pregnancy Advisory Services,  was established in 1973 to complete development of the hand held abortion suction device, the manual vacuum aspirator (MVA). Since that time it has worked to establish abortion clinics in developing countries, influence policy on abortion, train health workers in abortion, and equip health-care systems to provide abortion. Ipas is present in 20 countries.

Exporting abortion to Africa

Ipas is one of the leading exporters of abortion from the USA. Along with its African affiliate, Ipas African Alliance, it has been maneuvering for the legalization of abortion in targeted countries in Africa by positioning itself as a health advisor. Most recently Ipas was able to inject itself into national policy making in Malawi by paying for a two year review of abortion by the Malawi Law Commission. The result, no surprise here, was a recommendation that a new law was needed to allow increased access to legal abortion. Legislation has been proposed and Ipas has been lobbying parliamentarians to support the bill which is soon expected for a vote.

In Uganda, Ipas targeted the health ministry and regulations on abortion. Ipas and Ipas African Alliance had strategic roles in helping to write the new expansive standards and guidelines on abortion. Ipas reports:

"The new standards and guidelines were developed by the Ministry of Health Reproductive Division in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team of health experts, legal experts and organizations, including the World Health Organization, Ipas Africa Alliance and the Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Uganda (AOGU). Ipas Africa Alliance works with partners in Uganda and five other nations-Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal and Tanzania- to improve the legal and policy environment for safe abortion in Africa, combining regional-level policy work with country-level support for actions to expand access to comprehensive abortion care."

The guidelines would allow abortion up to 28 weeks using dilation and evacuation abortion; allow girls of any age to make their own decision on abortion-no parental consent; seeks to remove what it calls the "stigma" of abortion; fails to acknowledge the deep cultural and religious beliefs of Ugandans who value and seek to protect the life of the unborn child; and uses the broad WHO definition of health- a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity- as did the US Supreme Court in its abortion ruling which resulted in abortion on demand.

The Ugandan NGO, Center for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), played a secretarial role for the abortion review process while promoting the legalization of abortion and working with Ipas and other pro-abortion NGOs including Open Society, Planned Parenthood Global, and Safe Abortion Action Fund.

In Nigeria, Ipas has begun to call for a review of the abortion law as it works with media "on increasing community awareness on sexual and reproductive health and rights issues". As reported, Ms. Hauwa Shekarau, Acting Country Director of Ipas Nigeria, called for a "review of the restrictive abortion laws in the country" which she claimed was necessary "because of the human rights implications of unsafe abortion".

Ipas Africa Alliance, in a statement to the African Commission which oversees compliance with the Maputo Protocol, called for Uganda and Nigeria to remove "all barriers and restrictions in their abortion laws that contravene Article 14 of the Protocol." Uganda and Nigeria, in keeping with agreements reached at ICPD that abortion laws are to be determined at the national level, had taken reservations on the right to abortion article of the Protocol to protect their sovereign laws protecting women and children from the violence of abortion.  

Policy makers and pro-life advocates in Africa are advised that Ipas is moving swiftly to impose western abortion on demand practices on African countries.

Pushing abortion in Latin America

The push for abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean by Ipas and other pro-abortion NGOs has focused a great deal of effort on the Inter American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) where countries that ban abortion are criticized during hearings before the commission. According to Ipas, "Years of advocacy by Ipas and partners in Central America paid off last month when leaders of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a strongly worded reprimand to the Nicaraguan government for its continued violation of women's sexual and reproductive rights....the IACHR special rapporteurs on the rights of women and of children issued a severe reprimand to Nicaragua's government for its continuation of a total abortion ban..."

El Salvador, with constitutional protection for the right to life from the moment of conception, remains a top target of Ipas as the struggle over legal protection for the unborn escalates.

Ipas writes:

"Ipas Central America has been working with the IACHR since 2007 to raise awareness of women's human rights violations in Nicaragua, and has also worked with partners in El Salvador like the Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto (Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion) to advocate against the total abortion ban in that country. As a result of these efforts, in the past five years the commission has agreed to hear the cases of three specific women denied life-saving health care and/or imprisoned due to these abortion bans, and the commission's statements and calls to action are now escalating as the governments of both countries continue to resist appeals for legal change."

Teaching 2nd trimester abortion procedures in Nepal

Ipas is seeking to expand access to second trimester abortion in Nepal where it is legal for the mother's health, cases of rape and incest, and fetal abnormality. Currently nurses and midwives are allowed to perform abortion in the first trimester but there are few abortionists for second trimester procedures. Ipas is seeking to change that as  it trains providers.

According to Dr. Ali Edelman, Ipas clinical consultant in Nepal,

"Second-trimester sites and providers require a higher level of technical and emotional preparation and support in order to improve the likelihood of ongoing provision of care. Although evidence-based techniques are safe, the complication rates for dilation and evacuation are directly related to the experience and skill of the provider. Additionally, these providers face discrimination from colleagues, friends, and family due to the sensitivities related to abortion in the second trimester."

Ipas states that it "has begun to train some providers in the more rural mountainous areas of Nepal in provision of second-trimester abortion with medical abortion-or abortion with pills."
Legislative News

Peru: Constitutional Commission of Congress Rejects Pro-Abortion Bill

The Constitutional Commission of the Congress of Peru rejected a bill to decriminalize abortion for the rape exception by a vote of six to four. The same measure was previously defeated by the Committee on Justice and Human Rights. The lobby effort included pro-abortion NGOs funded by Planned Parenthood and 'Catholics' for a Free Choice. Peruvian pro-life parliamentarians posted messages proclaiming "Triumph of life" and "Yes to life, not death."  


Brazil: Congressional Committee Advances Bill to Further Limit Abortion

The Committee on Constitution and Justice of Brazil's Lower House approved a bill to further restrict abortion. Abortion in Brazil is only permitted in cases of rape, life of the mother and severe cases of anencephaly. The proposed legislation, sponsored by speaker Eduardo Cunha, would require a police report be filed in cases of rape before an abortion can be performed and would limit access to the "morning after" pill. The goal of the bill, says Green party legislator Evandro Gussi, is to remove "any doubts that a rape was committed". Abortion supporters are protesting the legislation.


Scotland Gains Sovereignty on Abortion Policy

The United Kingdom's House of Commons has voted to devolve abortion laws to Scotland, giving the country full sovereignty over the issue. Currently, Scotland is subject to the UK's liberal Abortion Act of 1967. Both pro-life and pro-abortion groups have celebrated the move as an opportunity to change Scotland's abortion policy. John Deighan, Chief Executive of SPUC Scotland, warned of the possible threats to the unborn child's rights that could arise. "Transferring this responsibility to the Scottish Parliament may mean that the blatant discrimination against the disabled and the extent of post abortion trauma may now gain greater attention in Scotland," he said. Deighan urged MPs to "uphold respect for all human life from the moment of its conception". The ruling Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) welcomed the proposal but said they have no current plans to change the law.


US: Michigan Legislature to Vote on Bill Banning Dismemberment Abortions

Michigan's House Criminal Justice Committee approved two pro-life bills to ban dismemberment abortions. The legislation prohibits the use of dilation and evacuation procedure (D&E) which tears the unborn baby into pieces. Reports indicated that 8 percent of abortions in Michigan are D&E procedures. The bill's sponsor, Rep Laura Cox, called the procedure "gruesome, horrible and cruel". She testified, "It seems unconscionable to me that this type of abortion exists, and it is time that this practice ended." The bill now awaits consideration by the full House.  


Germany: Parliament Approves Assisted Suicide for 'Altruistic' Reasons

The German Parliament passed a bill legalizing assisted suicide for "altruistic" motives. The new law, Germany's first passed legislation on euthanasia, says someone can assist a suicide "on an individual basis out of altruistic motives". "Commercial euthanasia" would be punishable by up to three years in prison. However, the law is not clear as to what defines "altruistic" and "business" motives. It is expected to be challenged in the constitutional court. Alex Schadenberg, director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, noted the law is similar to Switzerland's, which permits euthanasia for "altruistic" reasons. The prohibition of "business" motives could be to prevent suicide clinics, such as those in Switzerland which attract an international clientele. Schadenberg acknowledged he did not know how the new law will play out in Germany, but emphasized that they have opened the door.  "And once you've opened the door, then the question is how will you prevent it, knowing that nations have to treat people with equality," he said. 


AU: Victorian MP Urges Colleagues to Investigate Euthanasia Advocate Dr Death

Victorian Upper House MP, Rachel Carling-Jenkins is calling for an inquiry into the pro euthanasia Exit International. She is urging her colleagues to "take this on board as a matter of high priority." The Medical Board of Australia recently issued several restrictions on euthanasia advocate Dr. Philip Nitschke, also known as Dr Death, prohibiting him from advising on assisted suicide and thereby ending his association with his group Exit International. Carling-Jenkins welcomed the decision and encouraged more investigations, explaining there is much more to uncover. "Now parliamentarians must do their part to protect vulnerable people - in this case suicidal people who gain access to methods of suicide from groups like Exit International," she said.  

Executive News

Colombia: Government Proposes Legislation to Legalize Abortion

Colombia's Attorney General Eduardo Montealegre announced plans to introduce legislation to increase access to abortion in the predominantly pro-life country. Current law permits abortion in cases of rape, life of the mother and fetal disability. The proposal would permit abortion on demand for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The legislation will face strong opposition from conservative lawmakers and the Catholic Church. 

Paraguay: President Stands Strong for Life

President Horacio Cartes is standing strong against pressure to legalize abortion in Paraguay following an international push from the case of a pregnant 10 year old victim of rape. Abortion is illegal in Paraguay except when the life of the mother is at risk. President Cartes celebrated that two lives were saved as the girl recently gave birth to a healthy baby. "We did what our conscience dictated, what the Constitution commands, and what our religious convictions command," said Cartes. He noted the importance of protecting life and the family, as well as knowing "about the ideologies that attack life and family".


Canada: New Government Calls for More Abortion Clinics

The newly elected Liberal government in Canada has already called for more abortion clinics in the country. Minister of Health Dr. Jane Philpott said, "We know that abortion services remain patchy in parts of the country. Our government will examine ways to better equalize access for all Canadian women." Mike Schouten, director of grassroots pro-life campaign WeNeedaLAW.ca, criticized the statement, which promotes a radical ideology rather addressing the actual needs of Canadian citizens. "Amidst the mounting problems that an aging demographic poses for our health care system, the first thing this government wants to do is make it easier for pre-born babies to be dismembered, decapitated and disembowelled?" questioned Schouten.



India: Government Proposes Allowing Midwives Perform Abortions

The Indian government is considering a proposal to allow midwives to perform abortions. While abortion is legal in India up to 20 weeks gestation, activists argue illegal abortions are widely practiced. They claim authorizing midwives to perform abortions will make them "safer". The proposed law would give auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) the ability to dispense abortion pills. India does not have a strong pro-life movement lobbying against the legislation, but criticisms have come from doctors concerned with the safety of authorizing untrained providers to handle the life threatening possible complications of abortion pills. Doctors also fear a misuse by AMNs. Ipas celebrated the proposal, saying it is "standard practice in many public health systems of the world." India's parliament will consider the proposal next year.

 
 
Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues
Advancing global respect and dignity for life through law and policy.

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