Twenty members of the “Equality” coalition filed a complaint to the Montenegrin Ombudsman against the Ministry of Health, regarding the rulebook that regulates access to medically assisted reproduction (MAR), adopted by this Ministry, and which prevent access to MAR for same-sex-oriented persons and women that are in a life partnership.
During the previous months, the Ministry of Health passed eight rulebooks related to the Law on Medically Assisted Reproduction, which defined the methods and conditions for assessing eligibility and selection of donours, as well as the types of laboratory tests they must undergo.
Some of these rulebooks are clearly discriminatory concerning to same-sex-oriented persons, and directly, and completely illegally, prevent them from using the rights from the law on MAR. Same-sex-oriented persons are prevented by these regulations from donating gametes, and women who are in a life partnership are prevented from exercising their rights to infertility treatment using MAR procedures.
This situation, in addition to preventing same-sex-oriented persons from accessing MAR, additionally prevents same-sex-oriented women who need to exercise their rights to infertility treatment by applying MAR procedures from entering into a life partnership for the reason that if they do so, they will be prevented from exercising their right and achieve.
Bearing in mind the Law on MAR, as well as the Constitution of Montenegro, ratified treaties on human rights and the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, it is clear that the aforementioned rulebooks deny the right from the law to persons with a life partnership with a person of the same sex are discriminatory, because they are unjustified discrimination, i.e. denial of rights based on sexual orientation, which is expressly prohibited.
Laws and bylaws should regulate life as it happens, and whenever they do not, their application is both to the detriment of those to whom these laws and regulations apply, and to the detriment of the state itself.
The members of the “Equality” coalition demanded with their complaint that the Ombudsman of Montenegro acts in accordance with his competences in this case, determine the discriminatory basis of these regulations, recommend their immediate amendment in order to remove any grounds for discrimination in them and order the Ministry of Health to end the practice of discriminatory treatment towards LGBTQ persons.
Members of the “Equality” coalition:
Queer Montenegro
Juventas
„Spektra“ Association
Association of LBTQ Women „Stana“
Centre for Civic Education (CCE)
Center for Women’s Rights
Clinical Centre of Montenegro
Montenegrin Olympic Committee
CRNVO
Montenegrin women’s lobby
Institute Alternativa
Human Rights Action
ANIMA
CEDEM
NVO „Prima“
Active zone
Women’s Safe House
SOS Nikšić
NVO CAREP
Center for Research and Monitoring CeMI