Published: 24.04.2013
On the 23rd of April 2013, a written question entitled “Does the European Convention on Human Rights set out a right to abortion?” (No. 633, Doc. 13181) was addressed to the Committee of Ministers (CM) by the President of the EPP group, Mr Luca VOLONTÈ.
Mr Volontè asked the Committee of Ministers:
- Can the Committee of Ministers confirm that the Council of Europe is not committed to a policy of promoting access to abortion?
- Can the Committee of Ministers, to the extent that it comprises representatives of the States Parties to the European Convention of Human Rights and the European Social Charter, confirm that it was never the intention of the authors of these instruments to establish a convention-based right to abortion?
On February 13, the Court of Appeals in Warsaw overturned an earlier verdict convicting Justyna Wydrzyńska, a well-known abortion activist from the so-called Abortion Dream Team, of assisting in a medical abortion.
In March 2023, the Warsaw-Praga Regional Court had sentenced this activist to community service for giving abortion pills to a woman who was pregnant with twins. It was a high-profile case that was reported in the international media.
• The trial of Justyna Wydrzyńska, an activist from the Abortion Dream Team group who was convicted of aiding and abetting a medical abortion, took place in the Court of Appeals in Warsaw.
• The European Parliament will debate the draft recommendations of the EU Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM).
On November 8, the Polish Sejm voted on a bill decriminalizing both the performance and the aiding and abetting of illegal abortions. The Left’s radically pro-abortion bill was thus sent for further parliamentary work.
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