There are 150 MPs in the Slovak Parliament. Only 59 MPs voted in favour, which did not meet requirement for a simple majority of 76 votes. 24 MPs voted against and 40 abstained
Following a vote today rejecting a bill that would have forced women seeking an abortion to view an ultrasound scan of the embryo or foetus, Amnesty’s Senior Campaigner on Women’s Rights, Monica Costa Riba, said:
“Today’s vote is a victory for women and for reproductive rights. By rejecting this bill, lawmakers in Slovakia chose to protect women’s privacy and autonomy and reject any further roll back of women’s hard-fought rights.
“Had it been adopted, this legislation would set a chilling precedent for Europe, severely obstructing women’s access to safe abortion care and violating Slovakia’s international human rights obligations. It would have undermined women’s privacy and autonomy and subjected them to harmful stigma, humiliation and degrading treatment.”
“This is a huge triumph for women and activists who spoke out and mobilized in Slovakia and internationally. We want to thank all those who took action and called on Parliamentarians to reject this harmful bill.”
Background
There are 150 MPs in the Slovak Parliament. Only 59 MPs voted in favour, which did not meet requirement for a simple majority of 76 votes. 24 MPs voted against and 40 abstained.
Today’s vote was the final one as the Slovak Parliament is expected to go to a recess ahead of the March 2020 general elections.
Last week an open letter signed by more than 30 organizations was published calling on MPs to stop the bill. https://bit.ly/2CV07GZ
