On 26 December 2010, Ms. Harper, the ambassador from Minoa (Charlotte Ryberg), first wanted to release this idea as a potential proposal for development, and get some feedback. The issue of abortion is controversial, but Dr. Castro of Glen-Rhodes mentioned something about cases of rape and where a woman's life is in danger. At the same time there was a draft on mandating the neutrality of abortion and if it passed then the opportunity would have been missed.
Her response was to create a resolution which:
- Secures the rights to abortion in cases of rape, incest, severe foetal abnormality and life-threatening situations.
- Allows member states to determine whether to allow for abortion in more general circumstances.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION # 128
On Abortion
A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.
Category/Strength: Human Rights, Mild: as it is rendered as a "right for the patient to seek abortion" to save their lives: however the area of policy is small compared to general civil rights.
The World Assembly,
ASSERTING that it is the duty to protect the health of living persons;
ACCEPTING the controversy surrounding the legality of abortion;
NEVERTHELESS CONVINCED that it is inappropriate for member states to deny abortion to any pregnant female who are at risk of death if their pregnancy is not terminated;
Therefore:
1. REQUIRES member countries to legalise abortion for cases where:
a) The pregnancy resulted from involuntary sexual activity and/or sexual activity in which at least one of the parties could not legally give consent;
b) Severe foetal abnormality would result in a child being born with an incurable condition which is fatal and/or painful;
c) There is a risk of a life-threatening physical or mental condition which would result in the death or life-long severe disability of the pregnant woman if the pregnancy continued;
2. FURTHER REQUIRES member countries to ensure that abortion facilities are easily available to patients seeking abortion in circumstances under Section 1;
3. MANDATES that such abortions may only be carried out with the informed consent of the patient without coercion: if the patient is incapacitated and unable to make their wishes known, the patient's legal next-of-kin may make the decision on their behalf;
4. FURTHER MANDATES that physicians who carry out abortions must be trained to the same accepted medical standards that all surgeons are held to, and that abortions are carried out in a way that is as painless as possible while preserving the mother's physical health;
5. DECLARES that no physician may be compelled to perform abortion against their moral stance;
6. DECLARES that it is neither a criminal offence nor a cause for civil suit to have obtained abortion for reasons under Section 1 and no inhabitant of a member country shall be subject to prosecution for having done so, nor otherwise subjected to harassment or persecution in law or at the instigation of the state in consequence;
7. INSISTS that all member nations retain the ability to legalize abortion for purposes not covered under the preceding clauses either unilaterally within their own jurisdiction or collectively through World Assembly resolution.
The rationale:
- It is in the interests of the WA to protect the health of living persons.
- Also, it is not the fault of the woman to be raped (see also explanation by Urgench)
- Member states must allow abortion only in cases of rape, incest, severe foetal abnormality or where the pregnant woman's life is in peril if the pregnancy was not terminated.
- Such abortions can only be performed on the consent of the patient.
- The legality of abortion in other cases shall remain unaffected.
A lot of challenges have been encountered during the development of this resolution and a lot of hard choices had to be made to get this far. Mainly:
- Programmes to reduce abortion, such as birth control, sexual abstinence, sexual education and contraception were already recommended by GA#44.
- The confidentiality of patients' data was already covered by GA#29 and GA#58.
Thanks to all the ambassadors who have supported and offered other suggestions and thank you for your participation,
- Ms. S. Harper.
MODEDIT: Author's first post in the AT VOTE debate is here
EDIT: Ms. Harper's post-vote reflection is here.