Another initiative promoting abortion and sexual education with the support of the governments of the major European countries

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Another initiative has been organised in Europe with the view to globally force the concept of “reproductive and sexual rights”. In addition to radical organisations, including the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), 15 European countries got involved in the Countdown 2030 Europe project. The aim of the initiative is to enhance access to abortion and vulgar sexual education. Although this initiative was not created by all the EU Member States, the Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, has recently declared her support of the initiative. The meeting summarising the project was attended by representatives of the governments of, among others, Germany, the UK and France. This time, the pretext for promoting ideological postulates is the COVID-19 epidemic.

Although the Countdown 2030 Europe project has been formally operating since 2015, recent events linked to the pandemic have become a pretext for stepping up its action. The consortium brings together several radical organisations, including IPPF being one of the world's leading abortion promoters. The objective of the Countdown 2030 Europe is to take action for the promotion of “reproductive and sexual rights” in Europe. In addition to IPPF, the initiative partners are, among others, the Swedish Association for Sexual Education, the European Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, the Swiss Foundation for Sexual and Reproductive Health and the Family Planning Association from Denmark, Ireland and Spain.

The summary of Countdown 2030 Europe, published at the meeting, is the result of consultations between the members of the consortium on “reproductive and sexual rights” and “reproductive and sexual health”. The consultation was attended by foreign ministers and development agencies from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the institutions of the European Union. An important part of the consultation was devoted to ensuring access to the implementation of “reproductive and sexual rights” during the COVID-19 pandemic. The IPPF spoke on this issue, pointing out explicitly that the pandemic contributed to the increase in demand for services related to “reproductive and sexual rights”, particularly in the least developed countries, due to the isolation of society. According to IPPF, the number of women who want to avoid pregnancy is expected to increase, among others, due to the precarious economic situation caused by the pandemic. At the same time, according to the organisation's estimates, the pandemic is expected to contribute to 15 million “unwanted” pregnancies per year. Once again, the ongoing pandemic is being used by pro-abortion environments to promote increased access to so-called reproductive rights, which promote unrestricted access to prenatal murder and vulgar sexual education. One of the issues raised during this meeting was the facilitation of access to abortion in Europe. Representatives of the countries (Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom) who participated in the conference, declared the continuation of the policy of promoting “safe and legal” abortion as a key pro-health investment. Similar declarations were made by NGOs. For example, the IPPF stressed its commitment to promoting access to abortion, especially in underdeveloped countries.

A key element of the Countdown 2030 Europe programme are the measures to force forward the permissive sexual education and the ideologised vocational and technical training programmes in Europe. The Countdown 2030 Europe programme also refers to resolutions of the Nairobi Summit, which was organised last November, presenting them as recognised standards. In fact, both the Nairobi Summit and its findings have been widely criticised by the Member States and the international community.

“Although the Countdown 2030 Europe initiative is in formal terms an agreement between several countries and NGOs, its radical proposals aim to further promote controversial reproductive and sexua rights across Europe. They are already a reference point for EU officials, as reflected in the open support of Helena Dalli for this initiative. Such agreements, consortia and networks are increasing and have one objective – to give the impression that radical demands are internationally recognised expressions. The only way to prevent this phenomenon is to organise an active and firm opposition to attempts to introduce them into the international discourse,” said Karolina Pawłowska, Director of the Centre for International Law of Ordo Iuris.