Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality
“My Body My Choice: While sexual and reproductive rights are widely acknowledged as human rights in many Member States, women continue to witness limitations or denials of their access to reproductive healthcare. Considering the legal restrictions on abortion in Member States like Malta and Poland, as well as the persistent practical barriers in other Member States, how can the EU collaborate with its Member States to enhance accessibility to abortion?”
Ceylin Gülcan (NL), Joppe Dirkzwager(NL), Bozo Maleki (NL), Nathalie van Eekelen (NL), Laurien Blaisse (NL), Abigail Dicksons (NL), Loïs Thunhorst (NL), Juul van Ginkel (NL), Imme Bosman (NL, Chairperson)
The European Youth Parliament aims to promote women’s health, reproductive rights and gender equality, by enhancing access to abortion, raising awareness about its importance and increasing its availability.
The above is decided upon because,
- While access to safe abortion is widely acknowledged as a human right, abortions are still heavily restricted in the Member States Malta and Poland,
- Restricting abortion leads to a surge in unsafe, illegal procedures, endangering women’s health and lives,
- Being forced to keep the child can often heavily limit young mothers’ future prospects, due to multiple factors including but not limited to possible health complications, social stigma, an increased risk of domestic abuse, or educational backlashes, thereby harming gender equality,
- Many women are forced into seeking difficult and expensive cross-border abortion care, due to discrepancies in countries’ legislation, while being restricted in access to information,
- In some countries with access to abortion services, abortions are still nearly impossible to obtain, due to a shortage in doctors willing to carry out the procedure, usually out of religious beliefs,
- In many Member States, “pro-life groups” actively harass women willing to terminate their pregnancies, thereby creating a discourse hindering emancipated decision-making;
To that end, the European Youth Parliament,
- Urges Malta and Poland to enhance access to abortion by altering their restrictive abortion policies;
- Encourages Member States to enhance access to birth control by subsidising the acquisition of different birth control methods;
- Requests the European Commission to enhance accessibility to daycare facilities for young mothers, facilitating their completion of education and employment retention, through the establishment of a dedicated fund;
- Appeals to the Directorate-General for Communication to contribute to the reduction of the social stigma surrounding abortion by creating a media campaign;
- Further urges the European Commission to financially support Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that aim at making cross-border abortion accessible to anyone;
- Requests the European Commission to support initiatives advocating for the establishment of abortion clinics in border regions adjacent to countries where abortion is illegal or heavily restricted by establishing a dedicated fund;
- Invites all Member States to work towards the reduction of physical and mental harassment faced by women seeking an abortion by enhancing policing of abortion clinics;
- Suggests that Member States incorporate voluntary short programs teaching abortion procedures into the curricula of medical schools, regardless of speciality;
- Further encourages medical employers to incentivize specialists performing abortions, by providing bonuses to those who do.