Polish health minister ‘appalled’ girl, 14, struggled to get abortion after rape

Doctors at several hospitals cited a conscience clause to avoid treating the teenager who has a mental disability

Agence France-Presse in Warsaw
Mon 30 Jan 2023

Poland’s health minister has weighed in on a high-profile rape case, saying it was “unacceptable” that a mentally disabled 14-year-old girl struggled to get a legal abortion.

The case, in which doctors at several hospitals used a conscience clause to avoid carrying out the procedure, has sparked renewed calls to ease the Catholic country’s abortion laws, which are among Europe’s most stringent.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/30/polish-health-minister-appalled-girl-14-struggled-to-get-abortion-after

Submission by Human Rights Watch to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy

October 19, 2020

1. This submission concerns the privacy rights of children and issues relating to their independence and autonomy. It focuses on the importance of privacy for children with respect to their sexual and reproductive health and rights, physical and emotional well-being in school, safety in the online space, and the protection of their information online.

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
2. States’ obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights include areas of sexual and reproductive health and autonomy. Where access to safe and legal abortion services are unreasonably restricted, a number of human rights may be at risk, including the right to privacy.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/19/submission-human-rights-watch-un-special-rapporteur-right-privacy

19.10.2020

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criminalization of abortion

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Global

USA – “Parental Involvement” Mandates for Abortion Harm Young People, But Policymakers Can Fight Back

“Parental Involvement” Mandates for Abortion Harm Young People, But Policymakers Can Fight Back

Sophia Naide, Guttmacher Institute
First published online: February 19, 2020

Young people deserve access to the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion care. Yet, states have long imposed special barriers by forcing minors to involve their parents in their decision to have an abortion. These parental involvement mandates are unnecessary, deny young people’s bodily autonomy, and can add logistical and financial burdens to abortion care.

States are increasingly looking to young people’s access as they move in diverging directions on abortion rights. In 2020 so far, new parental involvement mandates have been introduced in three states, while bills to repeal existing requirements have been introduced in four states. States should repeal these requirements as one step toward a commitment to reproductive rights that centers the needs of marginalized groups.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2020/02/parental-involvement-mandates-abortion-harm-young-people-policymakers-can-fight-back

Abortion Bill Passed in Icelandic Parliament

Abortion Bill Passed in Icelandic Parliament

By Jelena Ćirić
Posted May 14, 2019

The Icelandic parliament passed a bill which legalises the termination of a pregnancy within the first 22 weeks regardless of circumstances. Abortion was previously legal within the same timeframe, however a person’s decision to terminate a pregnancy after the 16th week required approval by a committee. That decision is now solely in the hands of the pregnant person.

The bill was passed with 40 votes against 18. Three MPs abstained from the vote and two were absent. All members of the Progressive Party, Pirate Party, Social Democratic Alliance, Left Green Movement, and Reform Party voted for the bill. All Centre Party and People’s Party MPs voted against the bill, excepting Anna Kolbrún Árnadóttir of the Centre Party, who abstained.

Continued: https://www.icelandreview.com/news/abortion-bill-passed-in-icelandic-parliament/

14.05.2019