Government says reproductive health bill duplicates existing rules

The Lithuanian Government supports creating a legal framework for reproductive health but opposes the measures proposed in a bill prepared by Social Democratic MP Birutė Vėsaitė, saying they are already covered by existing legislation, LRT reported.

The Government said the bill’s authors had not provided sufficient arguments to justify fundamentally changing the current system or why less extensive regulatory alternatives would not be enough.

“The objectives could be achieved by refining existing legal provisions, meaning the proposed systemic changes could be considered insufficiently cost-effective and could create an excessive administrative and organisational burden,” the Government said in a resolution adopted on Wednesday.

It also said the possible impact of the proposed changes on families and demographic processes was unclear. Without such an assessment, the Government said, there was no sufficient basis to conclude that the changes would not have negative consequences in these areas.

According to the Government, existing legislation already regulates non-discrimination, reproductive health, abortion, sex education and other issues addressed in the bill.

It said provisions concerning healthcare for pregnant women, women giving birth and newborns, prenatal diagnostic services, pregnancy risk assessment and the organisation of obstetric services were already established in legislation and orders issued by the health minister.

The Government also said that the proposed provision allowing abortion to be performed surgically or with medication was unnecessary because applicable treatment methods and technologies were already regulated under the Health System Law.

Under that law, healthcare professionals may choose disease prevention, diagnostic and treatment measures, therapeutic and surgical procedures approved under procedures set by the health minister, as well as medicines and medical devices registered in accordance with the law.

Provisions requiring women to be informed about abortion methods, risks, complications and alternatives, with information provided in understandable language and with informed patient consent, would also largely duplicate the informed consent rules established in the Law on Patients’ Rights and Compensation for Damage to Health, the Government said.

It added that public information, education, counselling and knowledge-sharing measures related to reproductive health and family planning were already included in public health education.

Sex education topics are also integrated into general education programmes, meaning the proposed provisions would significantly duplicate rules already operating in the education system, according to the Government.

If there is a need to provide more detail on the content or methods of sex education, the Government said this should be done through secondary legislation and education programmes rather than at the level of a law.

It also said that detailed requirements for specialists’ qualifications, training content, duration and scope are generally set by a minister because they can change, and should not be established in legislation.