Abortion Rights and Gender Studies: A Resolution of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly

During its 26th session, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Resolution No. 2614, entitled “Women’s rights in Europe – Progress and challenges.” This document was based on a report by the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination (document 16211), for which Petra Bayr from Austria was the rapporteur. Sixty-six members of the Assembly voted in favor of the resolution, six voted against it, and five abstained.

The document emphasizes that equality between women and men, and women’s rights – understood in a broad sense – are the foundation of democracy. It points to the increased presence of women in politics, administration, and social life, including the growing number of women in parliaments and their increasingly frequent appointment to the highest offices in the member states of the Council of Europe. At the same time, however, the resolution identifies a number of phenomena that, in the opinion of the authors, are leading to the erosion of these achievements.

Among the key problems identified are growing social polarization, the phenomenon of “cultural wars,” and the activity of groups opposed to the concept of gender equality. In particular, reference is made to the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) report “Tip of the Iceberg,” according to which nearly €700 million from the United States, Russia, and Europe was used to finance “anti-gender” activities between 2009 and 2018.

The fight against “stereotypes”

The authors of the resolution express concern about the increasing frequency of references to family values in public discourse and the attribution of traditional roles to women, which, according to PACE, may result in the weakening of women’s rights. The growing popularity of “masculinist” trends and the dissemination of misogynistic content, especially on social media, are also highlighted. According to the resolution, digital platform algorithms promote sexist content and marginalize inclusive messages. In this context, reference is made, among other things, to the television series Adolescence, which was intended to spark a debate on the influence of pop culture on young people.

The authors of the resolution view the fact that the majority of members of European parliaments are men as a negative phenomenon. PACE welcomed Recommendation No. 40 of the UN CEDAW Committee from October 2024 on equal and inclusive representation of women and the Kigali Declaration, adopted at the 145^th session. At the same time, it called for the implementation of the earlier PACE Resolution No. 2615 of 2025 promoting inclusive participation in parliamentary life.

The resolution also refers extensively to the problem of violence against women, citing statistics from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights indicating that one in three women in Europe has experienced violence. The document reemphasizes the importance of the Istanbul Convention on violence against women as a key tool in combating domestic violence and calls on countries that have not yet done so to ratify it. Turkey’s withdrawal from the Convention is described as a warning sign and an example of the impact of an internal retreat from the idea of equality.

The document also discusses the threats faced by women politicians, including hate speech and violence, both online and offline. The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly refers to the March conference of parliamentary speakers, which emphasized the need for a systematic response to such incidents. Protection is also needed for “human rights defenders,” who, according to the authors of the resolution, are increasingly becoming targets of harassment and attacks.

Sex education and abortion access

PACE also addressed the issue of so-called reproductive and sexual health. According to the authors of the document, access to abortion is too difficult in Europe. The Assembly calls on member states “to guarantee access to free, legal, and safe abortion for all who seek it.” It also includes a proposal to create “buffer zones” around facilities that provide abortion services and to monitor the Internet for “misinformation.” In point 12 of the resolution, PACE regrets that “anti-choice activists conduct campaigns of harassment targeting women’s human rights defenders, healthcare professionals, politicians and people seeking abortion care.”

The resolution also calls for universal, compulsory sex education covering, among other things, issues of “gender identity,” “sexual orientation,” “consent,” and protection against violence. In this context, Resolution No. 2490 of 2023, which calls for the recognition of sex education as a universal right, is cited. In point 11, the resolution states that sex education should cover issues such as “sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.”

According to PACE, programs related to, among other things, “gender studies” are underfunded. On the economic front, the document condemns the persistent wage and pension gap. It also addresses the issue of the so-called “feminisation of poverty” – especially in rural areas and among minorities – and calls for these issues to be made a priority in countries’ foreign policy.

The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly expressed solidarity with women living under totalitarian and theocratic regimes and advocated for the recognition of so-called “gender apartheid” as a crime under international law. In the context of armed conflicts, attention was drawn to the use of rape as a weapon of war and the problem of human trafficking.

Our view

The PACE resolution puts forward a number of proposals that go beyond the traditional scope of human rights protection. These recommendations attempt to introduce new rights into the established catalogue of human rights and could also impact constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, such as freedom of conscience. It is essential that Poland maintains a clear position on such documents and defends a legal order based on objective grounds. Furthermore, the authors of the resolution fail to acknowledge that the 1995 Beijing Declaration, in paragraph 106 p. k, states that abortion should not be promoted as a method of family planning and calls on all governments and relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to reduce recourse to abortion through expanded and improved family planning services. The Beijing Declaration also emphasizes that the prevention of unwanted pregnancies must always be a top priority and that every effort should be made to eliminate the need for abortion. In fact, women who have unwanted pregnancies should have easy access to reliable information and compassionate counseling, and it is very unfortunate that this is only mentioned in the PACE resolution as a potential “barrier to genuine and timely access to legal abortion care,” 

Julia Książek of the Ordo Iuris Institute’s International Law Center.