The Matić report says “barriers in the access to abortion” lead to “inequalities in achieving women’s rights across the EU”. A final resolution is expected to be passed on 23 June.

The European Parliament is expected to vote a motion on the “situation of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the EU” in its plenary session of 23 June that would include a commitment to actively promote abortion in all member states.

The text brought to the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) by the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and led by rapporteur Predrag Fred Matić aims to “fully acknowledge that sexual and reproductive health and rights are human rights”.

A majority of the parliament is expected to support a resolution that speaks of promoting sexual education, fighting female genital mutilation and sex trafficking, and facilitating the access to modern contraception methods, among other aspects.

But the key point that stands out in the formulation of the Matić report has to do with the promotion of “free and legal abortion” for all women.

“Barriers in the access to abortion”, says the summary of the initiative published on the European Parliament’s official website, “lead to the violation of sexual and reproductive health and rights, but also to inequalities in achieving women’s rights across the EU”.

The report criticises the policies of EU member states Poland and Malta in the area of reproductive health, speaking of a “backlash against women’s rights” in the area of “safe and legal abortions”, which lead to “the erosion of democracy and personal freedoms” in Europe.

Conscientious objection seen as “barrier”

The report also denounces the use of conscientious objection by health professionals, saying that it is “one of the most problematic barriers”. The report underlines that “medical professionals often do not perform abortions, calling upon their personal beliefs (…)

Read full article here

(c) Evangelical Focus, used with permission