Slovenia - EWL members' activism in solidarity with women of Poland and Russia on reproductive rights

[Brussels, 06 September 2011] The Women’s Lobby of Slovenia and their members recently organised two protests in solidarity with the women in Russia and Poland, where there are serious attempts in the parliament to diminish their right to legal and safe abortion. These rights are threatened by radical conservative political forces and christian religious fundamentalism. Protests took place on 06 September 2011 at 12.00 and 13.30 in front of the Russian and Polish embassies in Ljubljana. In Russia, in the parliamentary procedure, there are drastic changes of the rather liberal legislation underway, aiming at severe limitations of women’s freedom regarding reproduction. At the same time these changes would not foresee their better access to information and means for responsible parenthood. In Poland, abortion is already forbidden with few exceptions, and there was an attempt to totally ban it. This attempt fortunately failed. Now, civil society human rights activists have been starting to collect signatures for the more liberal legalisation of abortion. The EWL members in Slovania appealed in support of the women of Poland and Russia in letters addressed to Mr. Putin and Mr. Tusk and delivered to the Russian Deputy Ambassador and to the Polish Ambassador in Slovenia. These appeals requested from the Prime Ministers to use their political influence on the leaders of the biggest political parties and persuade Parliament to implement binding international standards concerning women’s rights to freely decide upon their own bodies. Women human rights activists in Slovenia in 1974 won and have since succeeded in maintaining the constitutional right to freely decide upon reproduction and effective legislation on sexual education and family planning. This is why in Slovenia there is a thirty year history of decreasing numbers of abortions and teenage pregnancies. The Women’s Lobby of Slovenia, by organising these two protests, publicly showed its determination to discourage any attempt to undermine this basic human right of women anywhere in the world as well as in Slovenia. For more information, contact: Women’s Lobby of Slovenia, Dalmatinova 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Tel: +386 70 611 213, e-mail: zenskilobi@gmail.com, www.zls.si

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