Human rights laws stipulate that women should be free to decide when to get pregnant, how many children to have and how to space them, a group of UN experts recalls. This Monday the 26th marks World Contraception Day and Wednesday the 28th the International Day of Safe Abortion. In Caracas there will be a march to demand that the AN decriminalize abortion
Human rights laws stipulate that women should be free to decide when to get pregnant, how many children to have and how to space them, recalls a group of UN experts and asserts that policies that deny sexual and reproductive health guarantees are discriminatory.
Providing women and girls with access to safe contraceptive methods is part of the responsibilities of States to guarantee the highest possible level of physical and mental health for all, three special rapporteurs and a working group of UN human rights.
Special rapporteurs, independent experts and working groups are part of what are known as special procedures of the Human Rights Council.
The recommendation was signed by Tlaleng Mofokeng, special rapporteur on the right to health; Reem Alsalem, special rapporteur on violence against women and girls; Victor Madrigal-Borloz, independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity; and the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, specifies a press release of the United Nations Organization.
In a joint declaration, the experts referred to the setbacks registered in some countries that affect the right to sexual and reproductive health, including the right to abortion, and stressed that the autonomous decisions of women and girls must be respected.
“Human rights laws stipulate that women should be free to decide when to get pregnant, how many children to have and how to space pregnancies. The full enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health guarantees is essential for women and girls to be able to exercise all other human rights and to achieve gender equality,” they stated.
They also argued that laws and policies that deny women and girls their sexual and reproductive health rights are “inherently discriminatory.”
Prioritize sexual and reproductive health
The experts’ statement comes on the occasion of World Contraception Day, which is celebrated this Monday, September 26, and International Safe Abortion Day, on September 28, dates that the experts take advantage of to urge States and their institutions “to prioritize the rights to sexual and reproductive health, and to adopt legislation, policies and decisions that ensure women and girls the full exercise of their right to access sexual and reproductive health and health services —including safe abortion— , without fear of intimidation, stigma or criminalization, in accordance with their international human rights obligations.”
The rapporteurs highlighted the negative effects of legal restrictions on contraceptives for ideological reasons and the interruption of sexual and reproductive health services due to the covid-19 pandemic on historically discriminated female population groups, such as girls, black women and Afro-descendants, indigenous people, migrants, refugees and displaced persons, among other groups.
The statement cites data from the World Health Organization indicating that up to 39,000 women die each year due to lack of safe abortion services and stresses the importance of preventing unwanted pregnancies through access to contraception, safe abortion services and quality postabortion care.
Also read: WHO asks countries to lift obstacles and regulations that prevent safe abortion
Religion and culture should not be a pretext for discrimination
“Women and girls must not be instrumentalized to serve fundamentalist ideologies and populist agendas. Religion and culture must not be misused to further discriminate against and oppress them in a global context of serious backlash against gender equality,” the UN expert advisors noted.
They insisted that all women and girls should have adequate access to safe, effective and affordable contraceptive methods of their choice, including modern short-acting and long-acting contraception and other methods such as emergency contraception, as well as any other method to avoid forced pregnancies.
autonomous decisions
The rapporteurs explained that in guaranteeing this right, States must respect the capacity of women and girls to make autonomous decisions and not limit access to contraceptives to obtaining authorization from husbands, partners or parents.
They also argued that sexual and reproductive health strategies must take into account the needs of lesbian and bisexual women, trans men, and all gender-diverse people for whom they are relevant.
They warned that states are responsible for any act, including acts of omission, that violates the fundamental rights of women and girls by state and non-state actors.
This responsibility encompasses the duty to investigate, prosecute and punish such acts, they noted.
The rapporteurs called on States to work hard to dismantle all practical barriers rooted in the lack of official regulations, such as conscientious objection and the imposition of a spousal consent requirement, even when not required by law.
Human rights specialists praised the constitutional recognition of sexual and reproductive rights that some countries have made and urged all States to adhere to follow that path.
Also read: Maduro government signs cooperation framework with the UN
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