The Council of Europe is calling on member states to decriminalise abortion, guarantee women’s effective exercise of their right to abortion, lift restrictions which hinder access to safe abortion, as well as adopt appropriate sexual and reproductive health strategies.
The Council of Europe’s Committee on Equal Opportunities published a draft resolution for the Parliamentary Assembly on Monday, wherein direct reference to Andorra and Malta is made with regard to the absence of abortion rights, arguing that such should be made legal due to the consideration “that a ban on abortion does not result in fewer abortions, but mainly leads to clandestine abortions, which are more traumatic and more dangerous.”
The report also points out that “in many of the states where abortion is legal, numerous conditions are imposed which restrict the effective access to safe abortions.”
The committee’s Socialist group representative Gisela Gurm, who penned the report, stated that: “the Assembly has never adopted a resolution or a recommendation on abortion as such… The Assembly’s position on abortion, as adopted so far, can be summarised as follows: In no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning. But in circumstances where abortion is not against the law, such abortion should be safe and accessible. When the pregnancy results from rape, women should be given the choice of having an abortion.”
The report mentions that abortion is legal in the vast majority of the Council of Europe member states. “Except in Andorra and Malta, the law permits abortion in order to save women’s life. Abortion on request is – in theory – available in all Council of Europe member states, except in Andorra, Malta, Ireland and Poland.”
In conclusion, the report said: “The lawfulness of abortion does not have an effect on a woman’s need for an abortion, but only on her access to a safe abortion.”
“The Parliamentary Assembly should also note that, in member states where abortion is legal, conditions are not always such to guarantee women effective access to this right: the lack of local health care facilities, the lack of doctors willing to carry out abortions, the repeated medical consultations required, the time allowed for changing one’s mind and the waiting time for the operation all have the potential to make access to abortion more difficult, or even impossible in practice.”