Poland, Saudi Arabia and 29 others join US-led anti-abortion declaration on women’s rights

OCT 23, 2020

Poland, Saudi Arabia and 29 other countries have joined the United States in signing a declaration on women’s health that denies the right to abortion, promotes “the family as foundational to society”, and emphasises “each nation’s sovereign right” to implement its own policies in these areas.

The document – officially titled the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family – is seen as a rebuke to United Nations human rights bodies that have sought to protect access to abortion, notes the Washington Post.

Continued: https://notesfrompoland.com/2020/10/23/poland-saudi-arabia-and-29-others-join-us-led-anti-abortion-declaration-on-womens-rights/


U.S. signs international declaration challenging right to abortion and upholding ‘role of the family’

By Miriam Berger
Oct. 22, 2020

The United States joined Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia and Uganda on Thursday to co-sponsor a nonbinding international antiabortion declaration, in a rebuke of United Nations human rights bodies that have sought to protect abortion access.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar participated in the virtual signing ceremony. The Geneva Consensus Declaration aims to promote women’s health, “defends the unborn and reiterates the vital importance of the family,” Pompeo said at the ceremony.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/10/22/trump-geneva-consensus-abortion-family/


Beyond Abortion: What’s at Stake With a Right-Wing Court

Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the highest court could spell bad news for LGBTQ equality, voting rights, and health care

Max Ufberg
Oct 12, 2020

Somehow, with the election less than a month away and Capitol Hill still reeling from a recent Covid-19 outbreak, Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s first Supreme Court confirmation hearings are set to begin today. Assuming the Senate votes to confirm Barrett — a woman who’s been described as an ideological heir to Justice Antonin Scalia — conservatives will take a 6–3 majority on the Supreme Court, giving the U.S. its most right-wing Court since 1950.

A conservative Supreme Court could rewrite the law around a number of issues, including reproductive rights, voting rights, health care, and law enforcement immunity. Below is a snapshot of what’s at stake with Barrett’s nomination.

Continued:  https://gen.medium.com/beyond-abortion-whats-at-stake-with-a-right-wing-court-2267f7a2d68c


Stuart Kyle Duncan: the Trump-appointed judge working to ban Louisiana abortions

Stuart Kyle Duncan: the Trump-appointed judge working to ban Louisiana abortions
The ultra-conservative fifth circuit court judge repeatedly upheld the ban in Texas and could result in clinic closures across Louisiana

Rosemary Westwood in New Orleans
Sun 14 Jun 2020

A landmark US Supreme Court ruling expected before the end of June could shutter most of Louisiana’s abortion clinics and precipitate clinic closures in more than a dozen other states.

The case, June Medical Services v Russo, is one of the most high-profile supreme court cases of the year, after Donald Trump appointed two justices who tipped the balance of the court to a conservative majority. And it might never have reached the supreme court without the aid of another Trump-appointed judge, Stuart Kyle Duncan.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/jun/14/stuart-kyle-duncan-the-trump-appointed-judge-working-to-ban-louisiana-abortions


Poland: Reject New Curbs on Abortion, Sex Ed

Poland: Reject New Curbs on Abortion, Sex Ed
Don’t Manipulate Pandemic to Endanger Women, Adolescents

April 14, 2020
Human Rights Watch

(London) – Poland’s Parliament will consider regressive legislation this week that would restrict sexual and reproductive health and rights and put the lives and well-being of women and adolescents at risk, Human Rights Watch said today. The legislation is scheduled for reading on April 15 or 16, 2020 as the country remains under a COVID-19-related state of emergency that bans group gatherings.

The bills under consideration were originally introduced in March 2018 and October 2019, and have since been stalled or not moved forward under the Parliament elected in November 2019. Both were met by street protests.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/14/poland-reject-new-curbs-abortion-sex-ed


Poland’s election features a confident right-wing ruling party despite abortion, LGBT debates

Poland's election features a confident right-wing ruling party despite abortion, LGBT debates
Political opposition is fractured, while strong church influence dominates campaign

Sarah Lawrynuik · CBC News
Posted: Oct 06, 2019

Poles will cast their ballots in the national parliamentary election next Sunday, and the world is watching to see if they will deliver another decisive victory for the populist, right-wing Law and Justice Party.

Law and Justice formed Poland's first outright majority government in 2015 since the fall of communism. In the ensuing years, Poland has been seen to be following in the political footsteps of fellow-EU member state Hungary, in a turn toward conservative policies, control of the media and breaking down some of the country's checks and balances on power.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/poland-election-law-and-justice-1.5310006


Antigender politics from May to August 2019

Antigender politics from May to August 2019

11 Sep 2019
Sexuality Policy Watch

We start this announcement recalling that, before May 2019, two major antigender events have taken place that are worth revisiting because of their potential subsequent ripple effects in Europe and Latin America.

The World Congress of Families – The 2019 edition of the World Family Congress (WCF) was held in Verona (Italy) in the last week of March. The event was attended by Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, senior Hungarian officials and other well-known names of conservative religious and lay circles in Europe and the United States. The event faced protest, as Feminist and LGTBI marches took to the streets of Verona to contest the event’s agenda (see a compilation). It is also worth noting that the Vatican and members of the Five Star Movement — whose coalition with Salvini’s Lega Nord governs Italy — have publicly distanced themselves from the conference. Amongst the vast record of information published on Verona, we draw attention to the report published by openDemocracy on the large flow of money — more than 50 million euros — transferred between lay and religious conservatives in the United States and European far-right movements. Another OD report examines how WCF acts as a regular meeting point for strategies among highly conservative personalities, members of the European aristocracy and the Catholic hierarchy engaged in antigender and anti-abortion policies.

Continued: https://sxpolitics.org/antigender-politics-from-may-to-august-2019/20119


South Africa – #Elections2019 cheat sheet: Your guide to a feminist vote

#Elections2019 cheat sheet: Your guide to a feminist vote

3 May 2019
Pontsho Pilane

Like many South African women and queer people, you may find yourself in a conundrum about which political party to give your “X” to on May 8. Here is Health-e’s quick cheat sheet to help you make a pro-women, pro-queer choice — developed in partnership with the #Yvote4U campaign.

Women make up most of those registered to vote in the elections, according to the Independent Electoral Commission. This should mean gender issues are front and centre of the political parties’ campaigning, but this hasn’t been the case because young women feel excluded from these parties’ agendas.

Continued: https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/opinion/elections2019-cheat-sheet-your-guide-to-a-feminist-vote-22410145


Conservative congress on family divides Italy

Conservative congress on family divides Italy

The Associated Press
Published: March 30, 2019

VERONA, Italy — A congress in Italy under the auspices of a U.S. organization that defines family as strictly centring around a mother and father has made Verona — the city of Romeo and Juliet — the backdrop for a culture clash over family values, with a coalition of civic groups mobilizing against what they see as a counter-reform movement to limit LGBT and women’s rights.

The World Congress of Families, which runs through Sunday, has revealed another rift in Italy’s governing coalition, as well as providing a platform for ultra-conservatives seeking to reopen the debate over abortion, legalized in Italy in 1978.

Continued: https://o.canada.com/pmn/news-pmn/conservative-congress-on-family-divides-italy/wcm/0f025cb5-08fb-4610-bf4b-f2c475f6e154