{"id":5800,"date":"2025-11-18T10:32:57","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T10:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oneofus.eu\/?p=5800"},"modified":"2025-11-18T21:48:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T21:48:56","slug":"presse-release-the-echr-reaffirms-no-right-to-abortion-exists-yet-eugenic-discrimination-against-children-with-disabilities-continues-unchecked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oneofus.eu\/sl\/presse-release-the-echr-reaffirms-no-right-to-abortion-exists-yet-eugenic-discrimination-against-children-with-disabilities-continues-unchecked\/","title":{"rendered":"[PR] The ECHR reaffirms no right to abortion exists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sporo\u010dilo za javnost <\/strong>– Brussels, 17 November 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ECHR reaffirms no right to abortion exists – yet eugenic discrimination against children with disabilities continues unchecked<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The European Federation ONE OF US takes note of the judgment made public on Thursday 13 November 2025 by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in A.R. v. Poland<\/em> (Application no. 6030\/21). While the Court finds a violation of Article 8 due to procedural irregularities in Poland during late 2020, the judgment contains a crucial reaffirmation: the ECHR confirms that no right to abortion exists under the Convention<\/strong>, including in cases of disability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this legal clarification cannot obscure the profound human tragedy at the heart of this case: a child diagnosed with Trisomy 18 was eliminated through abortion because of their disability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facts and the law<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The applicant, upon receiving a prenatal diagnosis of Trisomy 18, travelled to the Netherlands to abort, during a period of legal uncertainty following the Polish Constitutional Court’s October 2020 ruling that abortion on grounds of disability constitutes an unconstitutional eugenic practice. The ECHR found Poland in violation of Article 8 on procedural grounds<\/strong>: the delayed publication of the Constitutional Court’s judgment (from 22 October 2020 until 27 January 2021) created a “prolonged situation of considerable uncertainty<\/em>” (\u00a7106) regarding the applicable legal framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critically, the Court did not rule that Poland \u2014 or any State \u2014 must permit abortion in cases of disability.<\/strong> The Court reaffirmed that “not every regulation of pregnancy termination constitutes an interference with the mother’s right to respect for her private life<\/em>” (\u00a7104, citing A, B and C v. Ireland<\/em>). European States retain full competence to protect unborn human life, particularly when threatened by abortion because of disability, consistent with Article 5(3) TEU on subsidiarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eugenic discrimination: a structural injustice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What occurred in this case reflects systemic discrimination against persons with disabilities beginning before birth. When disability is treated as a legitimate ground for ending human life, society sends an unmistakable message that certain lives are not worth living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, a child with Trisomy 18 \u2014 a recognized disability \u2014 was denied the most fundamental right: the right to life. The right to life is a right for everyone, even if life is likely to be very short. As the Charter of Fundamental Rights declares in Article 1: “Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected.<\/em>” This dignity does not depend on genetic conditions. Article 21 of the Charter explicitly prohibits “any discrimination based on any ground such as… disability<\/em>\u00bb a prohibition that must extend to the prenatal elimination of children because of their condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MVMC: risks of institutionalizing cross-border eugenic abortion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The applicant circumvented Polish law by travelling to another Member State. What occurred informally in 2020 risks becoming institutionally facilitated through the European Citizens\u2019 Initiative \u00ab My Voice My Choice \u00bb (MVMC) proposal of a cross-border abortion mechanism. If abortion is included within EU\u2019s competencies, this would create a system that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n