24 February 2005  

OPEN LETTER to Mrs. Anna Záborská
Chair of the Women's Committee of the European Parliament  

Dear Mrs. Záborská,

We, as the international community working on sexual and reproductive health and rights and aiming for the full implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Cairo Programme of Action, appreciate the commitment to gender equality of the European Union expressed in the Ministerial Declaration of the Conference of Ministers of Gender Equality, Luxembourg, February 4, 2005. This Dec1aration emphasises "that gender equality cannot be achieved without guaranteeing women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, and reaffirm that expanding access to sexual and reproductive health information and health services are essential for achieving the Beijing Platform for Action, the Cairo Programme of Action and the Millennium Development Goals".

However, we all know that the situation, even within the European Union, does not comply with this Dec1aration or with other adopted agreements. The conservative forces, particularly in the new member states, continuously harm women's sexual and reproductive rights and impede their access to services and information:

-      In Poland , abortion is not available even in the cases when it is legal. The UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) issued  Conc1uding Observations for Poland related to sexual and reproductive rights. "The Committee notes that the recent imposition of legal restrictions on abortion has exc1uded economic and social grounds. The Committee expresses its concern that because of this restriction, women in Poland are now resorting to unscrupulous abortionists and risking their health in doing so. The Committee is also concerned that family planning services are not provided in the public healthcare system so that women have no access to affordable contraception. "

-      In Lithuania , sexual education and comprehensive information about HIV/AIDS prevention is not accessible for young people, although the Baltic countries have among the highest increase in HIV/AIDS infections. The Conc1uding Observations of the Human Rights Committee on the report by Lithuania states that: "While noting the information provided orally by the delegation on sex education in schools, the Committee is concerned at the high rate of unwanted pregnancies and abortions among young women between the ages of 15 and 19, and the high number of these women contracting HIV/AIDS, with consequent risks to their life and health. The State Party should take further measures to help young women avoid unwanted pregnancies and HIV/AIDS, inc1uding strengthening its family planning and sex education programmes."

-      In Slovakia , access to sexual and reproductive health services will be threatened if the proposed Treaty on the Right to Exercise the Objection of Conscience with the Holy See is adopted. Already today, although abortion is legal, many hospitals refuse to perform abortion and many gynecologists do not inform women objectively about contraception. If the treaty is adopted, prenatal examination or artificial fertilisation as well as sexual education, may become unavailable and inaccessible particularly for women and young people in the rural areas.

Ten years after the Fourth Women's Global Conference in Beijing it is a time to evaluate the fulfi1ment of the Beijing Platform for Action and take appropriate actions and measures to ensure the commitment of member states to international conventions. We urge you to address sexual and reproductive health and rights in the European Union, more specifically in the context of the Women's Committee, and to take  urgent action particularly on the cases listed above. We cannot and will not further accept the argumentation that the "EU has no mandate on abortion". As the Ministerial Dec1aration says, there is no gender equality without guaranteeing women's sexual and reproductive health and rights. Gender equality as such pertains to all  EU documents and forms one of the values and priorities of the Union’s new constitution.

ASTRA Network – Central and Eastern European Women’s Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights members: