Following Poland’s failure to implement three European Court of Human Rights judgments against it in 2007, 2011 and 2013, the Council of Europe Committee of Foreign Ministers adopted an Interim Resolution on Friday calling for “clear and effective procedures” to allow access to lawful abortion.
The Resolution stipulates that this provision must be accessible across the country, and without delay caused either by the conscience clause invoked by some doctors or by restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In particular, the Committee of Ministers notes that when the Medical Professions Act was amended in July 2020, the Polish Parliament failed to take into account calls from both the Committee and the Commissioner for Human Rights to include an explicit obligation to refer patients to alternative services when a medical procedure was not performed due to use of the conscience clause.
The Committee of Ministers also stresses that pre-natal examinations must be available and is concerned about the consequences of the Constitutional Court judgment of October 2020 that invalidated the grounds for lawful abortion related to the health of the foetus. The Resolution stresses that pre-natal examinations are not strictly linked to access to lawful abortion and are vital for pre-natal treatment or preparation for birth, and calls for an impact assessment of the Court’s judgement.
Further consideration of this group of cases is planned for December. The Interim Resolution adopted at this stage is “a form of decision adopted by the Committee of Ministers aimed at overcoming more complex situations requiring special attention”. The Interim Resolution can be found at: https://bit.ly/3eEtCAS (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)