Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-03-Speech-3-277"
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"en.20080903.24.3-277"2
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"Mr President, we have heard some very important statements. This is an emotional question on which there are different points of views. I believe we should go back to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo, which clearly indicates respect for national legal frameworks. We in any case reject coercive abortion, forced sterilisation, infanticide and other human rights abuses, which are clearly not in line with that policy.
At the same time, it is also very important to understand that childbirth is not without its complications. As Mrs Buitenweg said, it is a luxury in our countries, but the luxury is not there in other countries. The principle of voluntary choice should therefore guide this programme of action, which seeks to provide universal access to a full range of safe and reliable family-planning methods – which, of course, is the priority – and to reproductive health services which are not against the law.
The aim should be to assist individuals and couples in making their own choices and achieving their reproductive goals, giving them the full opportunity to exercise the right to have children by their own choice. That is what we have to achieve.
In no case will abortion be promoted as a method of family planning. Governments are committed to dealing with the health impact of unsafe abortions as a public health concern – because they happen and we have heard how many are women are dying from them – and to reducing the recourse to abortion through improved family planning services. When abortion is not against the law, it should be safe and part of a comprehensive reproductive health service. That is most important.
On the other hand, it is true that health-care systems should be better, as they are weak, and we are now looking at strengthening those systems by training more health-care personnel and through a system of health insurance, which is an initiative of the French presidency.
It is true that much money has gone, for instance, into combating HIV/AIDS in recent years, but unfortunately ever more women are becoming HIV/AIDS-infected in Africa: one out of four girls aged between 16 and 24 are now HIV positive. That is awful. The Commission is aware of this, and is encouraging initiatives through the Global Fund to be more geared to women and to be more gender sensitive.
Finally, on the question of migration, this could go in the wrong direction. This so-called ‘brain drain’ is one of the issues that will have to be tackled when addressing migration as a whole. It has both positive and negative sides and we have to find the right balance."@en1
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