On July 9, 2021, the Public Defender of Georgia addressed the Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia with a general proposal relating to discrimination on the grounds of disability.

The case study found that pregnant women with disabilities face barriers when receiving health care services.

The Public Defender stressed that persons with disabilities constantly have to fight for access to the environment, as well as for equal use of various public and private services, while pregnant women with disabilities are even more severely disadvantaged, which makes it necessary to take measures to protect the rights of such persons.

Accordingly, the Public Defender called on the Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia to:

• Systemically analyze the needs of pregnant women with disabilities in terms of their access to health services and develop an action plan to satisfy their needs
• Ensure that the right to participate in the State Programme for Maternal and Child Health is not granted to a medical institution that does not provide an environment adapted for persons with disabilities
• Accelerate the assessment of compliance of antenatal service providers across the country with regionalization criteria.