PATENT's statement on the Geneva "Consensus" Declaration

As we learned from the news – since of course, no advance notification was given by the government – on the 22nd of October 2020, Hungary, the United States, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, and Uganda have formed an anti-abortion coalition. The so-called Geneva “Consensus” Declaration was signed by a further 26 states, the majority of which are oppressive, authoritarian regimes. Bringing to mind the now-infamous photo of the so-called Demographic Summit held in Hungary, where the front rows of lectures calling for the increase of birth rates were filled by conceited male politicians, the leaders of the 32 states joining the current declaration – the presidents, primes ministers, kings, princes, and sheiks – are all men. The document deceptively and hypocritically campaigns against safe and accessible abortion under the guise of women’s human rights and women’s right to health.

Attempting to force women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term is an inhumane, humiliating, and misogynistic practice: it is obvious that those who have signed this declaration are not in the least concerned with women’s health and welfare. The human rights language used in the declaration, the empty references to women’s rights and the improvement of their circumstances, are nothing but a bald-faced lies and attempts at deceiving the public; by supporting the prohibition of abortion, the declaration is campaigning against women’s most fundamental rights, against women’s human right to a life free from torture, inhumane and degrading treatment. It is similarly disingenuous to call the declaration a “consensus”, as though its intentions were widely agreed upon – the silver lining of the matter may be that the international declaration suggests a pathetic diplomatic failure, given the low number of countries joining the initiative.

There should be no illusions: if these men take away women’s rights to safe abortions, it will not mean a decrease in terminated pregnancies: at most, these will become invisible in statistics, and thanks to such “pro-lifers”, millions of women will have to risk their lives undergoing dangerous, secret procedures. We cannot emphasize enough that the only way to decrease the number of abortions is to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, and this can only be achieved through effective prevention: available and affordable birth control for everyone; up-to-date an age-appropriate sexual education; and the improvement of women’s societal circumstances. If the aim is to raise birth rates globally – because, of course, why not overpopulate the Earth sooner rather than later – decision-makers should consider the unpleasant truth that in the countries that call themselves developed, the most efficient measure to increase the desire to procreate is improving equality between women and men.

At the same time as the declaration was issued, one of its signatories, Poland, practically banned abortions: from now on, pregnancy cannot be terminated even in cases when the fetus is severely damaged or unviable. The only exception will be if the pregnancy is a result of rape (consider how likely it is that the woman can prove this in time, under such a misogynistic regime), or the woman’s life is at risk. In Poland, apart from the 1000 legal abortions performed per year, 100-120.000 women travel abroad for the procedure. No statistics document the women who cannot afford this, and have their pregnancies terminated illegally under dangerous circumstances (because whether one likes to admit it or not, women do resort to these measures if they are pressed to).

We stand in solidarity with our sisters in Poland and encourage everyone to make your voices heard, speak up, and protest in every way available to you, against these despicable measures threatening and violating women’s life, health, welfare, and rights – while you still can.