Commentary to the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in the cases of Grimmark v. Sweden and Steen v. Sweden of 11 February 2020 - midwives' conscientious objection

The commented decisions concern the issue of freedom of conscience in the midwifery profession and the possibility of its restriction by the state in connection with the need to ensure access to health care for pregnant women, in particular those choosing to terminate their pregnancy. The European Court of Human Rights, breaking with the previous line of jurisprudence, ruled that where the possibility of termination of pregnancy is provided for by national law and implemented within the framework of the health care system, a person intending to exercise the profession of midwife, which entails, inter alia, the obligation to participate in abortion procedures, cannot exempt herself from this obligation on the grounds of conscientious objection. The author disagrees with the position of the Court and with the reasoning presented by it, which led it to declare the complaints as manifestly unfounded.