On 11 June, IPPF Member Association, Family Planning and Sexual Health Association of Lithuania, together with the Parliamentarian Group on Development, Reproductive Health and Rights organized a hearing on abortion in the Lithuanian Parliament. Speakers included representatives of the Lithuanian Society of Gynaecologists. There were two foreign guest speakers sponsored by IPPF EN - Manuela de Melo, MP from Portugal and member of the Portuguese delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly and Piotr Kalbarczyk, the Executive Director of IPPF Member association in Poland.

There were 75 participants - from NGOs, governmental organizations and Parliamentarians. Both the conference and press conference were successful and the Family Planning and Sexual Health Association of Lithuania hopes that it will have a positive influence on politicians and decision makers. Lithuanian parliamentarians might soon be called to vote on a bill to severely restrict abortion.

The debate on abortion is heated and virulent. Anti choice forces have many supporters in the parliament and great visibility in the media. The timetable of the proposal on abortion is not clear and it could be either voted before the summer break or after the elections which will take place in the autumn.

Furthermore the majority of Lithuanian Parliamentarians recently supported a 'State Family Policy'. The proposal was voted and adopted on the 3rd of June. This policy promotes a restrictive definition of family, limiting the term of 'family' only to traditional models and relegating other alternative family models to second-class status.