After three women were forced to travel abroad to receive their abortions, a legal case on their behalf before 17 judges in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg argues that Ireland's 148-year-old abortion ban is discriminatory.

The
case presents an expansiveness of legal arguments about abortion that
may influence nations around the world. It is being closely watched not
only by other Catholic European nations (Poland, Spain, Malta), but
alsoU.S. anti-abortion lobbyists that have been allowed to submit arguments to the
court. As a group, the Family Research Council and the US Alliance Defence Fund filed a brief that contends "the stakes are high for all
of Europe" and that Ireland's defence "of innocent life is under
attack".

The economic argument against contraception assumes an unnerving disregard for humanity.

The final report from an undercover writer at the conservative conference in Poland examines the legislative focus of the Right-Wing and their strategy to achieve the "globalization of pro-family ideals."

The European Parliament is asking U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey to reconsider attending the World Congress of Families next month because speakers' views are out of step with the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Marcy Bloom does U.S. advocacy and capacity building for GIRE - El Grupo de Informacion en Reproduccion Elegida/The Information Group on Reproductive Choice.

Over the years I have contemplated and written about the critical importance of destigmatizing abortion in US culture. That mission has now expanded to the international realm. So, when I discovered a 2005 document from the Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning, "Contemporary Women's Hell: Polish Women's Stories," I was intrigued.

A sad and tragic title, but one that all too accurately describes the current painful abortion situation in Poland, as well as in far too many parts of the world.

It's official: on February 11, 2007, Portuguese citizens will vote on whether or not to make abortion legal without restriction within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. Portugal is one of the few countries in Europe where abortion is illegal under most circumstances; currently, the procedure is legally available only in cases where a pregnant woman's life is at risk, or during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape or fetal malformation. Despite the restrictive laws, tens of thousands of Portuguese women seek illegal, unsafe abortions every year, and pro-choice organizations estimate that some 10,000 of them wind up in the hospital with complications. Worse, women who seek unsafe abortions face harsh prison sentences, and are subjected to the additional trauma of having their sentence read out loud during public and often televised trials. Inter Press Service has an excellent analysis of the current situation here.