ECLJ:  Council of Europe Postpones Vote on Pro-Abortion Report

(Strasbourg, France) - The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) has announced that a vote on a resolution by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that promotes abortion as a means of family planning and population control in developing countries has been postponed.
 
The ECLJ has learned the vote was put off because it was believed the resolution would not have had a majority of support.
 
At issue is a report and recommendation entitled:  "Fifteen Years Since the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action."  Mrs McCafferty, Rapporteur of a pro-abortion recommendation, has delayed in presenting her text to a vote of the Parliamentary Assembly of PACE. She asked for a delay, after being surprised by the sudden and growing opposition within the public and the members of the Assembly.  The ECLJ believes its legal memorandum on the topic has been instrumental in educating members about this pro-abortion resolution.
 
In its memorandum, the ECLJ made clear that the Council of Europe has no authority or competency to promote a so-called "right" to abortion.  Furthermore, the U.N. Member States never agreed to include abortion as a means of population control, as a "right", or as part of the definition of family planning.
 
In this recommendation, abortion is regarded as a family planning method, and, according to the report "must be accessible, affordable, appropriate and acceptable to all, irrespective of age, community or country."
 
The recommendation will now be sent back into the Parliamentary Commissions and amended, until its probable examination and vote in the January 2010 session of the PACE.
 
You can read that ECLJ memo here. 

The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) is an international non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting human rights and religious freedom in Europe and worldwide.  It is the international affiliate of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which is based in Washington, D.C. and focuses on constitutional law.  Attorneys for the ECLJ have served as counsel in numerous cases before the European Court of Human Rights.  Additionally, the ECLJ has special Consultative Status with ECOSOC of the United Nations, and is accredited to the European Parliament.