2. My Body, My Rights
Denying women’s free choice over their own body or denying their access to any type of medical care, undermines the promotion and respect of their fundamental freedoms and rights. Banning abortion, or making it nearly impossible for a woman to access safe abortion, has never prevented it from happening. Instead, it makes women’s lives more difficult and dangerous by forcing them either to resort at home to backdoor procedures that put their health and lives at risk, or to travel to another state where legal termination procedures are available. Therefore, we urgently need to allocate more resources to, and prioritise, education, infrastructure and awareness-raising about sexual and reproductive health and rights, linking these to women’s social economic empowerment and independence. There should be a stronger focus on prevention and comprehensive sexuality education for all adolescents, young girls and boys inside and outside of school. This will equip them, including in rural areas, with better knowledge to make decisions about their own bodies, health and lives and to manage healthy sexual and social relationships. At the same time, promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights must be a norm, including the access to affordable, safe and legal abortion for all women throughout the EU. We want sexual and reproductive health and rights to be included in the EU Health Programme. Every country should offer access to affordable contraceptives and support services for women. The PES and PES Women will continue fighting for these rights in all countries and we must support pan-European initiatives, such as the AllofUs1 platform, that counteract misinformation.