A number of pro-abortion organisations are using the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine as an opportunity to attempt to change abortion laws in surrounding countries, provide medical abortion pills in humantarian kits and block funding to groups working to help Ukrainian refugees if the organisations oppose abortion.
Amnesty International, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and a number of other pro-abortion organisations have signed an open ‘Call to Action’ in which they use the war in Ukraine as an excuse to increase access to abortion across the region.
In the Call to Action, these organisations urge the European Union to “take swift and effective measures to facilitate and support urgent access to early medical abortion, through supporting cross-border and telemedical service-provision, for key populations”.
The same document laments that a number of countries surrounding Ukraine, which are providing asylum for refugees and other forms of assistance, including Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, have laws that recognise the right to life of unborn children to at least some degree.
The abortion groups call for “urgent political support, guidance and technical assistance to the Governments of Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to facilitate the removal of legal and policy barriers that are impeding the provision of essential sexual and reproductive health care”.
In addition to lobbying the EU, the pro-abortion organisations urge the Governments of Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia to: “Issue policy guidance clarifying that sexual and reproductive health care, including emergency contraception, contraception and abortion care… is essential health care that should be provided free of charge and that health-care providers will be fully reimbursed, under existing regulations, for the provision of this care to all those fleeing Ukraine”.
The groups have called for increased funding for their activities to promote abortion and for the blocking of funding to groups working to help Ukrainian refugees if the organisations oppose abortion. This included calling for the European Union, donor governments and the broader international community to “verify that financial assistance is not provided to antiSRHR [anti-sexual and reproductive health and rights] and anti-equality organizations and actors in Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia or Ukraine”.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, more than 4,300 babies have been born in the country, according to the United Nations. About a further 80,000 women are expected to give birth in the country over the next three months.
Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “These abortion-promoting organisations are attempting to take advantage of a humanitarian crisis to push their own ideological agenda and promote the ending of more lives through abortion. The people affected by this war need life-saving humanitarian assistance, not abortions. Those promoting abortion during this international crisis should be utterly ashamed of themselves”.
