A leading Europe-wide pro-family group has come out against a proposal in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe which seeks to “regulate” freedom of conscience.

The Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe have said that the report, entitled ‘Women’s access to lawful medical care: the problem of unregulated use of lawful conscientious objection’ undermines “fundamental principles of a democratic society”, particularly freedom of conscience.

The report says that conscientious objection should be limited to doctors and nurses but not to medical institutions like hospitals, that doctors and nurses with an objection to a procedure such as abortion must refer the patient to someone who does not have such an objection, and that in ‘emergencies’ they must carry out the procedures themselves.

The report also suggests that States should compel health-care providers to perform euthanasia on patients under certain circumstances and that a ‘registry of conscientious objectors’ be created.

A vote on the proposal is set to take place on Thursday in Strasbourg.

In a statement, the Federation pointed out that freedom of conscience was a right “guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights”.

It also pointed out that out of the 47 Members States who are members of the Council of Europe, 41 already regulate freedom of conscience.

It continued: “Furthermore, the regulation of conscientious objection in medical care depends on the national jurisdiction of the Member States and shall hence be addressed by the competent authorities within the states, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.”

The Federation pointed out that “freedom of conscience is one of the foundations of Human Rights” and added that the 11 million families it represented counted “on the commitment of the PACE Members to promote this freedom and also on their presence during the debate and the following vote on this report”.