Andorra: Activist on trial for raising concerns about total abortion ban at UN meeting

December 1, 2023
Amnesty International

Abortion rights activist, Vanessa Mendoza Cortés, should have never been charged with a crime or put on trial for defending human rights, said Amnesty International, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Women’s Link ahead of her defamation trial on Monday.

Vanessa Mendoza Cortés, President of Stop Violence (Stop Violències), a civil society organisation, was charged with criminal defamation after voicing concerns about Andorra’s total abortion ban at a meeting of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to examine the country’s record on women’s rights in 2019.

Continued: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/12/andorra-activist-on-trial-for-raising-concerns-about-total-abortion-ban-at-un-meeting/


Poland: Prosecuting activist accused of aiding abortion ‘sets a dangerous precedent’

January 10, 2023
Amnesty International

Charges against an activist facing up to three years in prison accused of helping a pregnant woman access abortion pills in Poland must be dropped, said Amnesty International today ahead of the resumption of her trial in Warsaw tomorrow.

In November 2021, the prosecutor charged human rights defender Justyna Wydrzyńska with “helping with an abortion” and “possession of medicines without authorization for the purpose of introducing them into the market”.

Continued: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/01/poland-prosecuting-activist-accused-of-aiding-abortion-sets-a-dangerous-precedent/


When will conservatives learn that banning abortion does little to address demographic decline?

October 3, 2020
Milana Nikolova

A new Slovak bill limiting access to abortion – proposed by the populist OĽaNO (Ordinary People) party MP Anna Záborská – adds to a heap of similar laws that have been proposed throughout the emerging Europe region in recent years. The bill was brought before the Slovak parliament on Tuesday, but despite a heated debate that continued until late in the evening, a final decision could not be reached and a formal vote on its adoption was postponed: for now.

The draft bill proposes doubling the amount of time a patient should wait between requesting and receiving an abortion, increasing the amount of personal data collected about the patient, and requiring a compulsory second medical opinion, along with other measures designed to make getting an abortion more difficult.

Continued: https://emerging-europe.com/after-hours/when-will-conservatives-learn-that-banning-abortion-does-little-to-address-demographic-decline/


Slovakia: Draconian restrictions on abortion would endanger the lives of women and girls

16 September 2020
Amnesty International

Lawmakers in Slovakia must reject a draconian law that would impose new barriers to abortion and endanger the health and wellbeing of women and girls, said Amnesty International, ahead of the start of a parliamentary plenary session that will debate on a new abortion bill.

If passed, the law would introduce additional barriers to women and girls seeking abortion, doubling unnecessary waiting periods, imposing new medical authorization requirements for abortion on health grounds and forcing them to state their reasons for seeking care.

Continued: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/09/slovakia-draconian-restrictions-on-abortion-would-endanger-the-lives-of-women-and-girls/


Slovakia – in sixth vote – backs abortion rights

Slovakia - in sixth vote - backs abortion rights

December 5, 2019
Molly Millar

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Slovakia narrowly defeated a bill on Thursday that would have forced women seeking an abortion to see images of their unborn child - and hear its heartbeat - in the country’s sixth vote on reproductive rights this year.

The legislation in overwhelmingly Catholic Slovakia would have been the first of its kind in the European Union, raising fears among human rights organizations of setting a precedent in nations pursuing a conservative social agen

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-women-abortion/slovakia-in-sixth-vote-backs-abortion-rights-idUSKBN1Y92FY


Slovakia set to pass law forcing women to view images of embryo or foetus before abortion

Slovakia set to pass law forcing women to view images of embryo or foetus before abortion
The country's parliament will consider the law

Jon Stone, Europe Correspondent
Nov 28, 2019

Slovakian woman seeking an abortion would be forced to view pictures of their embryo or foetus under plans for a new law being considered by the country's parliament.

The draft law, to be voted on on Friday, would also require women to listen to the "foetal heartbeat" where technically possible before they could proceed with a termination.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/slovakia-law-women-embryo-foetus-abortion-images-new-law-a9224976.html