Swedish parliament votes to campaign against conscientious objection to abortion

The Riksdag (the Swedish parliament)

The Swedish Parliament voted this afternoon to campaign against a European resolution upholding the right to conscientious objection to abortion.

Swedish parliamentarians voted 271 to 20 to instruct the Swedish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Coucil of Europe (PACE) to work to change a resolution passed in October, which said (in part):

"No person, hospital or institution shall be coerced, held liable or discriminated against in any manner because of a refusal to perform, accommodate, assist or submit to an abortion".

SPUC's lobbying had helped pass the final (amended) version of that resolution.

The text of today's motion in the Swedish parliament said (inter alia):

"Sweden should support efforts which makes abortions free, safe and legal for all women. Sweden is one of few countries who are central in the international work focusing on sexual and reproductive health and rights."

As I told the media earlier today, Sweden's vote today shows the lengths to which the supporters of abortion are prepared to go to promote the killing of unborn children. There are no international conventions which recognise a right to abortion, whereas conscientious objection is a basic principle of international human rights law. October's PACE resolution was passed in a massively amended form because the original text was an outrageous attack upon the ethical standards of the medical profession, trained to preserve, not end, life. We will be working with our colleagues across Europe to ensure that Sweden's attempt to erode the right to defend life is thwarted.

The text approved by the Swedish Parliament today reads:

“The resolution 1763 (2010), adopted October 7, 2010, by the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council, implies that health care workers should have the possibility to choose not to perform abortions. The position of the standing committee, has been expressed in the commission report 2009/10:UU15, “Human rights in Swedish Foreign Policy”. The standing committee stands firm that Sweden should support efforts which makes abortions free, safe and legal for all women. Sweden is one of few countries who are central in the international work focusing on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The Swedish policy on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights remains stable. The standing committee notices that the issue of abortion is not covered by the EU treaty. The standing committee remain negative to the content of Resolution 1763 (2010) and consider the [Swedish] delegation to take more action to accomplish a change of this resolution.”

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Join SPUC's Facebook group
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy