‘An appalling crime’: Lord Alton urges EU action against forced abortion of disabled women
By Chris Eyte - Posted at Christian Daily International:
Published September 2, 2025
The European Union needs to fully commit to its 2023 agreement to the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women by enforcing the prohibition of these practices, according to Alton.Lord David Alton, a veteran Christian human rights campaigner, has urged European governments to act after a United Nations committee raised concerns about reports of forced abortions and sterilisation of women with disabilities in some European Union member states.
The issue surfaced during a March 2025 review meeting between the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and an EU delegation. Committee experts noted that women with disabilities in parts of Europe were still subject to coerced abortions and sterilisation procedures.
Markus Schefer, UN Committee Expert and Taskforce Leader for the European Union, told the session that “forced sterilisation and forced abortions were still being perpetrated on women with disabilities in European Union Member States.”
“Such actions were not criminalised by the Union and there were no policy measures addressing these acts of barbarism,” he said.