This story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.net/en/.

This story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.net/en/.
License: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/
international.
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Anti-abortion disinformation is a ‘systematic violation of rights’
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Date: None

openDemocracy’s investigations into global networks of crisis pregnancy centres and ‘abortion pill reversal’ (APR) treatments backed by US Christian Right groups reveal how women across the world are repeatedly given misleading information about their health and rights.

Legal experts participating in an openDemocracy panel discussion yesterday said that anti-abortion misinformation was a “systematic violation of rights” and denounced it as “outrageous”.

“Information availability is one of the underlying determinants of the right to health,” said Melissa Upreti, the vice-chair of the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls. “Without the right information that is scientifically based and backed by evidence, the quality of care is compromised.”

Laima Vaige, a Lithuanian human rights lawyer and feminist researcher based in Sweden, said: “Misinformation is a long-standing issue in Lithuania. But I still cannot help but be surprised by the audacity of such actions, especially by medical doctors who are under oath. That’s really outrageous.”

A global battle

The panelists repeatedly emphasised the need to battle misinformation transnationally.

“We may know what’s happening in our own country, but many people – even progressives – don’t realise the same thing is happening in different countries,” said Neil Datta, secretary of the European Parliamentary Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights. “This is a pattern happening within Europe, Africa, Latin America and beyond, which really opens new ways of looking at this.”

Upreti said that disinformation – which is false information that is spread deliberately to mislead – can be tackled via international treaties, especially relating to women’s health and rights: “They can be used to show that these are not just random acts, but there’s actually a systematic violation of rights.”

Upreti also emphasised that international law can be used as a tool to investigate the private businesses and corporations involved: “What are the tools that are being used to spread misinformation? Who is benefiting from this? Is there advertising that others are benefitting from?”

Vaige noted the financial disparities between feminist and anti-abortion organisations in countries such as Lithuania: “These crisis pregnancy centres have celebrities behind them. They are broadcast on national TV and advertised on every bus stop.”

She highlighted the importance of openDemocracy’s investigations in revealing the “resources and international corporations” behind the disinformation anti-abortion campaigns.

[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/anti-abortion-disinformation-is-a-systematic-violation-of-rights/