A number of members of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly have drafted a resolution calling on Member States to severely limit the right of health workers to conscientiously object to taking part in abortions and other controversial procedures.

While the resolution does not specifically mention abortion, in a clear reference to it, the motion calls on the Council to “provide oversight and monitoring of the practice of conscientious objection so as to ensure women are able to access the medical services they need and are legally entitled to receive”.

It also urges Member States to ensure that medical practicioners who conscientiously object to such procedures “ensure that women are referred to equivalent practitioners in a timely manner who do not share such objections”.

This would force doctors who do not agree with abortion to refer women for abortion. Many doctors would also feel compelled to object to such a move on conscience grounds.

The motion also calls on Member States to “rule out the right of institutional conscientious objection, preventing public hospitals or clinics as a whole to invoke conscientious objection”.

The next meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly is taking place in the middle of next month.

In August, the Spanish Minister of Justice, Francisco Caamano, said “there is no room for conscientious objection” when it comes to abortion.

The motion, sponsored by Swedish member Carina Hagg, says that conscientious objection Europe is “largely unregulated”.