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From the Council of Europe

Preventing the first form of violence against children: abandonment at birth


Rapporteur: Mr Michael Hancock, UK, 27 June 2008

non lasciamoli soliEUROPEAN CENTRE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE MEMORANDUM TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

“Article 11 para. 2 of the Charter requires that health education in school be provided throughout the entire period of schooling and that it cover the following subjects: prevention of smoking and alcohol abuse, sexual and reproductive education, in particular with regard to prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and Aids, road safety and promotion of healthy eating habits. It being understood that the activities may be more or less developed in accordance with the nature of the public health problems in the countries. The Committee is of the opinion that the integration of these subjects into the school curricula will contribute to giving full effect to this provision.

Introduction

ECLJ LOGOThe European Centre for Law and Justice [ECLJ] is a non-profit legal association specializing in international human rights law and has special consultative status before the United Nations as an NGO. ECLJ is an active participant before this Council of Europe body, having several cases before the European Court of Human Rights and also contributing to the European Committee on Social Rights and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Counsel of Europe.
The ECLJ here expresses its tremendous concern over the Draft Report on Preventing the first form of violence against children: abandonment at birth, and in particular the underlying promotion of abortion as a preventative alternative to abandonment. Whereas the aspiration of preventing abandonment of infants is an honorable and necessary societal goal, the ECLJ is extremely concerned with the politicization of the Draft Report and the unnecessary promotion of “abortion rights”. The ECLJ stresses that neither does this Council body have competency to make such a declaration, nor is it all appropriate for an international soft law document to promote abortion over life simply because of economic or personal utility. The ECLJ herein strongly opposes the below mentioned wording in the Draft Report as contrary to the right to life and to the ultimate mandate of the Council of Europe in promoting fundamental human rights:

nascitaA. Draft Resolution
9. The Assembly invites the member states to:
9.4. recognise a woman's full right to freely choose pregnancy, which means legal and easier access to sexual rights and reproductive health services;

salvare madri e bambiniB. Explanatory memorandum by Mr. Hancock, rapporteur
19. Abandonment of children raises the question of access for women (particularly migrant women) to contraception and abortion. Abortion has not been decriminalised in all countries. Even where it is permitted, it is subject to countless administrative formalities which form obstacles to many women in distress. In some cases and in some countries, doctors' conscience clauses or strict time limits on terminations of pregnancies may sometimes render this right, granted to women in principle, worthless in practice.

33. A proactive policy to prevent the abandonment of newborn babies should:
33.3. not allow anonymous childbirth to be legally possible; mothers should be required to give their identity, even though it should of course be possible to establish protected forms of childbirth offering some confidentiality for the mother, but children must not be deprived of the right to find out about their origins and should be allowed to do so even before they have reached the age of majority;
33.6. recognise a woman's full right to freely choose pregnancy, which means legal and easier access to contraception and abortion;
33.7. prevent early and unwanted pregnancies through information and sex education, particularly at school.


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