Poland’s near-total ban on abortion violated pregnant woman’s rights, finds European court

DEC 14, 2023
Notes from Poland

Poland’s near-total ban on abortion violated the rights of a woman who had to travel abroad to terminate her foetus, which had been diagnosed with Down syndrome, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.

It issued the ruling on the basis that three of the judges involved in issuing the 2020 Constitution Tribunal (TK) ruling that toughened the abortion law were appointed in an illegitimate manner by the former Law and Justice (PiS) government and President Andrzej Duda.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/12/14/polands-near-total-ban-on-abortion-violated-pregnant-womans-rights-finds-european-court/

14.12.2023

European Court of Human Rights

Law and Justice party

M.L. in Poland

Mateusz Morawiecki

Poland Constitutional Tribunal

European Court: Polish Abortion Verdict Violated Woman’s Rights

A Polish rights group representing the patient said the ruling "is a milestone and another argument that Polish law, which causes so much suffering for women in Poland, must change."

JESSICA CORBETT
Dec 14, 2023

A court in Europe ruled Thursday that a 2020 Constitutional Tribunal judgment further restricting already limited abortion access in Poland violated a pregnant woman's right to respect for private and family life under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The applicant, a Warsaw resident identified in court papers as M.L., became pregnant in 2020. After her fetus was diagnosed with trisomy 21, or Down syndrome, she scheduled an appointment for an abortion at a Polish hospital. However, the Constitutional Tribunal determined that abortions because of fetal abnormalities are unconstitutional, a policy that took effect in January 2021.

Continued: https://www.commondreams.org/news/poland-abortion

Lawyer unfazed by Poland abortion rights case defeat at ECHR

Polish women challenging Warsaw's abortion laws at the European Court of Human Rights had their cases dismissed, but many more are still to come.

Ella Joyner in Brussels
Jun 8, 2023

A Polish lawyer who oversaw the case of eight women challenging their country’s abortion laws at the European Court of Human Rights told DW she was undeterred after their complaints were deemed inadmissible on Thursday.

"We were quite aware that the court might not agree with us at this point," Kamila Ferenc, a lawyer and vice-president of the Polish Foundation for Women and Family Planning (FEDERA), told DW on the phone.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/lawyer-unfazed-by-poland-abortion-rights-case-defeat-at-echr/a-65862834

European rights court rejects first case by Polish women claiming to be victims of abortion law

JUN 8, 2023
Notes from Poland

The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a complaint by eight Polish women who claimed to be victims of their country’s recently introduced near-total ban on abortion. Around 1,000 such cases have been submitted to the ECHR, and this is the first time it has ruled on one.

“The court found that the applicants had failed to provide any convincing medical evidence proving that they had been at real risk of being directly affected by [the abortion law],” said the ECHR in a statement announcing today’s decision.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/06/08/european-rights-court-rejects-first-case-by-polish-women-claiming-to-be-victims-of-abortion-law/

European Court of Human Rights notifies Warsaw of 12 cases linked to abortion ban

By Hannah Somerville
Updated: 08/07/2021

The European Court of Human Rights has notified the Polish government of 12 separate cases being brought against it by Polish women over abortion rights.

A near-total ban abortions came into effect in Poland in January 2021, prompting mass protests in the country and condemnation from across the EU.

Continued: https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/08/european-court-of-human-rights-notifies-warsaw-of-12-cases-linked-to-abortion-ban

08.07.2021

News

ECHR

European Convention on Human Rights

European Court of Human Rights

Poland Constitutional Tribunal

Polish abortion ban

severe fetal abnormalities

UK – Woman with Down’s syndrome takes Sajid Javid to court over abortion law

Heidi Crowter alongside Máire Lea-Wilson and her son Aidan argue the 1967 act is discriminatory

Haroon Siddique, Legal affairs correspondent
Tue 6 Jul 2021

Allowing pregnancy terminations up to birth if the foetus has Down’s syndrome is discriminatory and stigmatises disabled people, the high court has heard.

Heidi Crowter, a 26-year-old woman with Down’s syndrome from Coventry, Máire Lea-Wilson, 33, and her son Aidan, who has Down’s syndrome, who both live in Brentford, west London are challenging Sajid Javid over the Abortion Act 1967. The act sets a 24-week time limit for abortions unless there is “substantial risk” of the child being “seriously handicapped”.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jul/06/downs-syndrome-sajid-javid-court-abortion-law-heidi-crowter

Abortion in Northern Ireland: at the interface between politics and law

22 March 2021
by Anurag Deb, UK Human Rights Blog

Abortion reform in Northern Ireland has had a fraught history, to say the least. Matters appeared to finally come to a head when in 2019, the UK Parliament enacted the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2019 (2019 Act), which created a duty on the Secretary of State to implement abortion reform by following the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination of Women (CtteEDAW). Nearly two years and two statutory instruments later, Stormont finds itself mired in fresh controversy as long-term abortion facilities in Northern Ireland have yet to be commissioned. So the obvious question arises: what happened?

Continued: https://ukhumanrightsblog.com/2021/03/22/abortion-in-northern-ireland-at-the-interface-between-politics-and-law/

Poland must adopt clear and effective
procedures for women to access lawful abortion

STRASBOURG
12 MARCH 2021

The Committee of Ministers of the 47-nation Council of Europe has adopted an
Interim Resolution (*) calling on Poland to adopt clear and effective
procedures on steps women need to take to access lawful abortion. These
procedures should ensure that no unnecessary requirements are imposed on
pregnant women seeking lawful abortion by hospitals beforehand and cover
abortion refusals on grounds of conscience. The authorities also should ensure
that women be provided with adequate information on these procedures.

The Interim Resolution relates to Poland’s implementation of three judgments
from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concerning legal abortions (P.
and S. and Tysiac and R.R.), which pre-date restrictions of the laws on legal
abortion in Poland resulting from a judgment of the Constitutional Court of 22
October 2020.

Continued: https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/poland-must-adopt-clear-and-effective-procedures-for-women-to-access-lawful-abortion

12.03.2021

European Court of Human Rights

Poland Constitutional Tribunal

Sweden abortion: Nurses fail in European court case

Sweden abortion: Nurses fail in European court case

13 March 2020

Two nurses denied jobs as midwives in Sweden because of their refusal to perform abortions have lost their legal action against Sweden at the European Court of Human Rights.

Swedish-born Ellinor Grimmark and Linda Steen from Norway object to abortion because of their Christian faith.

Swedish law requires midwives to carry out abortions - and several Swedish courts ruled against the two women.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51874119

Swedish midwives who oppose abortion fail in rights case

Swedish midwives who oppose abortion fail in rights case
Women argued that being denied employment breached their rights to freedom of religion and conscience

Reuters
Fri 13 Mar 2020

Two nurses denied midwife jobs as midwives for refusing to carry out abortions have lost their legal bid to take Sweden to a top European court for violating their religious beliefs.

Ellinor Grimmark and Linda Steen had told the European court of human rights (ECHR) that being denied employment due to their beliefs against abortion was an illegal breach of their rights to freedom of religion and conscience.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/mar/13/swedish-midwives-who-oppose-abortion-fail-in-rights-case