In compliance with the Cairo Conference on Population and Development (1994), during which the States pledged to “help women avoid abortion, which in no case should be promoted as a method of family planning” (7.24) and the World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995), the Parliamentary Assembly, under Resolution 1607 (2008) on Access to safe legal and abortion in Europe, reaffirms in paragraph 1 “that abortion can in no circumstances be regarded as a family planning method. Abortion must, as far as possible, be avoided. All possible means compatible with women’s rights must be used to reduce the number of both unwanted pregnancies and abortions”.
Nonetheless, according to an IPPF-EN report, several European States still regard abortion as a family planning method. This is the case of the Republic of Moldova where a woman who has a child under two years old or has already given birth to more than four children is permitted to have abortion until the baby is viable (22nd week), according to the Law on reproductive health and family planning no. 185-XV from 24 May 2001 and Order no. 647 from 21 September 2010 on safe and voluntary interruption of pregnancy of the Ministry of Health. Ukraine also allows abortion until the viability of the baby if the woman already has three children. The IPPF also underlines that, to date, abortion is considered as a family planning method in Georgia.
Mr Donaldson,
To ask the Committee of Ministers:
What measures it intends to employ to ensure that the principle of international and European law, which states that “abortion can in no circumstances be regarded as a family planning method”, is complied with?