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HagiaSophia
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As the government of Poland actively assesses its domestic laws on abortion and other social issues, an influential UN committee has intervened in the process by issuing a report calling on Poland to liberalize its laws. The report issued by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Committee expresses “deep concern about restrictive abortion laws in Poland” and tells Poland that it “should liberalize its legislation and practice on abortion.”
The report was released just as the Polish government prepares to consider draft legislation that would loosen current restrictions on abortion. In an unusually explicit attempt to influence national lawmaking, the report directs Poland that “these recommendations should be taken into account when the draft Law on Parental Awareness is discussed in Parliament.”
The report, which is a periodic review of Poland’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), does not mention that it is purely recommendatory and has no legal force according to that treaty. The ICCPR is one of the two major human rights treaties adopted in 1966 to implement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. What is most troubling to human rights activists is that the treaty makes no mention of abortion yet is increasingly used by the UN committee to pressure changes in abortion laws. Not only does the treaty make no mention of abortion it says explicitly that “Every human being has the inherent right to life.”
cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=34219
The report was released just as the Polish government prepares to consider draft legislation that would loosen current restrictions on abortion. In an unusually explicit attempt to influence national lawmaking, the report directs Poland that “these recommendations should be taken into account when the draft Law on Parental Awareness is discussed in Parliament.”
The report, which is a periodic review of Poland’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), does not mention that it is purely recommendatory and has no legal force according to that treaty. The ICCPR is one of the two major human rights treaties adopted in 1966 to implement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. What is most troubling to human rights activists is that the treaty makes no mention of abortion yet is increasingly used by the UN committee to pressure changes in abortion laws. Not only does the treaty make no mention of abortion it says explicitly that “Every human being has the inherent right to life.”
cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=34219