Council of Europe votes to decriminalise abortion

[pro-choice]

Today the Council of Europe voted by 102 votes to 69 (14 abstentions) to decriminalise abortion.

While the report is non-binding, ie. it cannot legally force any Council of Europe Member State to change it's legislation, it provides strong evidence of the level of consensus reached across Europe. Going forward this vote will be referred to in the European Court of Human Rights and by the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Council of Europe.

The Report requires a response of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, composed of the 47 national Minister in charge of health, to respond to the Parliamentary Assembly's requests to decriminalise abortion and take action on improving access to contraception. Concretely, this would mean that all of Europe's Ministers would have to discuss the possibility of a common European approach to decriminalising abortion.

It should be remembered that it is exactly via this Council of Europe mechanism, that the first steps towards the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation were raised back in the 1970s and 1980s and are now a basic condition of membership in the Council of Europe and the European Union.

Similarly, it is via conditions agreed within the Council of Europe that all European countries have now abolished the death penalty.

In sum, this is the first ever an official text agreed by an European Institution explicitly calls for a de-criminalisation of abortion across Europe on the basis of women’s rights. It is a significant victory for pro-choice advocates.

[Aindriu]

About time too. At last a step in the right direction.

[A_man_about_a_dog]

About time too. At last a step in the right direction.

Ditto

[Catalpa]

Today the Council of Europe voted by 102 votes to 69 (14 abstentions) to decriminalise abortion.

While the report is non-binding, ie. it cannot legally force any Council of Europe Member State to change it's legislation, it provides strong evidence of the level of consensus reached across Europe. Going forward this vote will be referred to in the European Court of Human Rights and by the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Council of Europe.

The Report requires a response of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, composed of the 47 national Minister in charge of health, to respond to the Parliamentary Assembly's requests to decriminalise abortion and take action on improving access to contraception. Concretely, this would mean that all of Europe's Ministers would have to discuss the possibility of a common European approach to decriminalising abortion.

It should be remembered that it is exactly via this Council of Europe mechanism, that the first steps towards the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation were raised back in the 1970s and 1980s and are now a basic condition of membership in the Council of Europe and the European Union.

Similarly, it is via conditions agreed within the Council of Europe that all European countries have now abolished the death penalty.

In sum, this is the first ever an official text agreed by an European Institution explicitly calls for a de-criminalisation of abortion across Europe on the basis of women’s rights. It is a significant victory for pro-choice advocates.

Similarly, it is via conditions agreed within the Council of Europe that all European countries have now abolished the death penalty

Except for the Unborn.

[PaintingMedium]

Today the Council of Europe voted by 102 votes to 69 (14 abstentions) to decriminalise abortion.

While the report is non-binding, ie. it cannot legally force any Council of Europe Member State to change it's legislation, it provides strong evidence of the level of consensus reached across Europe. Going forward this vote will be referred to in the European Court of Human Rights and by the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Council of Europe.

The Report requires a response of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, composed of the 47 national Minister in charge of health, to respond to the Parliamentary Assembly's requests to decriminalise abortion and take action on improving access to contraception. Concretely, this would mean that all of Europe's Ministers would have to discuss the possibility of a common European approach to decriminalising abortion.

It should be remembered that it is exactly via this Council of Europe mechanism, that the first steps towards the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation were raised back in the 1970s and 1980s and are now a basic condition of membership in the Council of Europe and the European Union.

Similarly, it is via conditions agreed within the Council of Europe that all European countries have now abolished the death penalty.

In sum, this is the first ever an official text agreed by an European Institution explicitly calls for a de-criminalisation of abortion across Europe on the basis of women’s rights. It is a significant victory for pro-choice advocates.

Similarly, it is via conditions agreed within the Council of Europe that all European countries have now abolished the death penalty

Except for the Unborn.

Sounds like a horror film

[baldur0300]

PACE can call for anything they want and the members can simply ignore it. It is the ultimate talking shop. Abortion is something inherently within the competence of the states that form the council of europe not the council itself. If worst comes to worst we can simply leave it. The CoE has no real relevance in post-EU Europe.

[FutureTaoiseach]

Important to remember that the CoE is not an EU institution, and that as such this does not impact on the Lisbon debate.

[jayblue]

on the council of europe web page, cannot seem to find who voted for and vote against, it would be interesting to see how the irish members voted and which 4 went over to the vote today

[kittyn]

About time too. At last a step in the right direction.

Ditto

Also agree but will it ever happen here or will the trips to the UK continue for ever.......?

[NotDevsSon]

Anyone why thinks the CoE motion is worth the paper it is written on is living in cloud cuckooland. If it ever tried to intervene internally in the abortion debate there would be mass resignations from the CoE of about 1/3 of its members, ranging from those who are opposed to abortion to others who while they allow abortion will not accept any CoE interference with their own ability to decide on the issue. The latter includes states with very liberal abortion rules and who have made it clear at state level to the CoE that they will never allow CoE "interference" on the issue in case the CoE might be used to restrict its more liberal abortion approach.

So if the CoE sought to in any way set the agenda on abortion, states ranging from Poland to Malta to the Uk, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Italy and others would all quit the CoE en masse. The CoE knows that which is why it has let governments know that the motion is as worthless as a three euro note.