The Shoura Council’s health committee has endorsed a proposal to prosecute those who block paramedics from providing treatment for women.

Shoura member Hanan Al-Ahmadi had submitted the proposal in September this year. A full session of the Shoura Council will discuss the issue next week and decide whether to approve or reject it, according to local media reports.

In her proposal, Al-Ahmadi had demanded severe sanctions for those hindering the work of male paramedics when they are called out to treat women. She said that recently two women died because paramedics were prevented from doing their job.

“Women’s lives are as valuable as those of other human beings. The judiciary must act immediately to put an end to the controversial edicts and opinions that block men paramedics from administering first aid and medical care to women. The authorities must seriously consider appointing women paramedics.”

She said the stance of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is “ambiguous” despite an earlier decision of the Shoura Council that the Health Ministry should hire women paramedics.

The Saudi Red Crescent is considering hiring women paramedics, said Abdullah Al-Otaibi, spokesperson of the body in Riyadh. The discussion is taking place under the supervision of Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, chairman of the Red Crescent.

Al-Otaibi said men paramedics have great difficulty providing treatment for women particularly if they are giving birth, have vaginal bleeding or suffer from a similar ailment. He said male guardians often block paramedics from treating them and insist they are taken to a hospital.

He said paramedics are often “shocked” and distressed by this behavior because the lives of these women are sometimes at stake. The situation is complicated further when the woman patient also does not want to be treated by a man, said Al-Otaibi.

He said paramedics treat each case on its merits. “If the woman suffers from a serious health condition and parents or guardians still prevent paramedics from doing their work, they call in police to intervene.”