Parent-child passport: Frauenring concerned about possible restrictions on women's rights

2023-04-28 16:43:40

The draft assessment harbors the risk that abortions could be registered, leaving women invisible as mothers

Vienna (OTS) – “The conversion of the mother-child passport into a parent-child passport and thus a de facto abolition of a milestone in women’s politics must be regarded as highly problematic. Not only does the woman become invisible as a mother, this draft also harbors the risk of creating the possibility of being able to register abortions via the ‘back door’ and massively encroaching on self-determination and thus on women’s rights. We clearly reject that!” said Klaudia Frieben, Chairwoman of the Austrian Women’s Association.

The women’s ring’s detailed statement, which was sent to Parliament and the Ministry of Social Affairs today, deals intensively with many points of the Parent-Child Passport Act.

“This draft urgently needs to be revised,” Frieben demands. “Neither a parent-child passport nor an electronic application may be created in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in order to guarantee that no pregnancy is registered early before the penalty-free period of the time-limit solution has ended,” demands Klaudia Frieben.

The Frauenring demands that the creation of the parent-child passport must also include obligations for the father. It must be ensured that the father’s health data must also be part of the parent-child passport. The legal situation is clear for married people, for unmarried people only with the consent of the unmarried mother.

The concept of the guardian should also be clearly defined and it should be avoided that joint custody automatically occurs after the birth for non-married couples, which we clearly reject.

Likewise, the mandatory parental counseling must under no circumstances lead to a reduction in the childcare allowance for the mother, especially if one parent refuses to take part.

We agree with the criticism of the data protection organizations regarding the use and storage of the data.

“We call on the government to obtain additional women’s policy expertise – we are always ready for talks,” says Klaudia Frieben. “It is important to deal with reproductive rights in a particularly sensitive manner.”