EU considers legislation making abortion services compulsory for doctors

The right of doctors to refuse to refer women for abortions on conscientious grounds is under threat from the Council of Europe.

A draft resolution would end the opt out and compel medical staff to carry out the procedure itself against their wishes if patients have nowhere else to go for the treatment.

It also calls for a register of doctors who object to abortion on conscientious grounds and a complaints mechanism for women who feel aggrieved by a refusal of a doctor to either grant an abortion or to perform the procedure directly.

The resolution will be put to a vote of assembly members on Thursday and while it would not be legally binding on Britain, if it is formally adopted it would put pressure on member-states to ban conscientious objection as a protection for doctors.

In Britain, medical staff who object to the procedure can refuse to become involved and instead simply give information to patients and inform them of their rights to see another specialist.

But the resolution calls for all doctors to be forced to direct women to alternative centres which are willing to carry out abortions.

Politicians behind the move argue that growing numbers of doctors are refusing to become involved in abortions, depriving women, particularly from poor backgrounds, of treatment to which they are legally entitled.

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H/T The Young Fogey