Changes from resolution motion to adopted text

AddedV. whereas in some countries, abortion procedures and unbiased counselling remain taboo and rarely form part of the obligatory medical training, leading to a lack of knowledge and practice among physicians to the detriment of patients’ physical and mental health;

AddedW. whereas disinformation on abortion, including online, poses a real obstacle to women’s autonomy; whereas until recently in Germany, the provision of information on doctors’ websites about medical abortion methods was considered as promoting abortion and was penalised; whereas the ‘abortion advertising ban’ was only lifted in July 2022;

AddedX. whereas Ukrainian refugees have been unable to access abortion care in some Member States, including in cases of sexual violence, which constitutes a grave violation of their human rights and amounts to torture and inhuman or degrading treatment;

AddedY. whereas criminalising, delaying and denying access to SRHR, specifically abortion care, constitutes a form of gender-based violence; whereas these restrictions and bans do not reduce the number of abortions, but instead force people to travel long distances or resort to unsafe abortions, which also makes them vulnerable to criminal investigation and prosecution; whereas they affect those most lacking in resources and information; whereas almost all deaths stemming from unsafe abortions occur in countries where abortion is severely restricted; whereas these deaths are preventable; whereas unsafe abortion is a leading – but preventable – cause of maternal morbidity;

AddedZ. whereas marginalised persons and groups, including racial, ethnic and religious minorities, migrants, people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, people living in rural areas, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBTIQ+ community and victims of violence, often face additional barriers, intersectional discrimination and violence in accessing healthcare; whereas this is a result of laws and policies that allow for coercive sexual and reproductive healthcare practices and a failure to ensure reasonable accommodations in access to quality care and information;

Added1. Recalls, once again, that SRHR are fundamental human rights which must be protected and enhanced and cannot in any way be watered down or withdrawn;

Added2. Recalls the EU’s commitment to the promotion, protection and fulfilment of the right of every individual, in particular of every woman and girl, to have bodily autonomy and full control over and decide freely on matters related to their sexuality and sexual and reproductive rights, free from discrimination, coercion and violence;

Added3. Urges the European Council to launch a Convention for the revision of the Treaties, as requested in its resolutions of 9 June 2022 and of 22 November 2023, and to adopt its proposal included in its resolution of 22 November 2023 to add sexual and reproductive healthcare and the right to safe and legal abortion to the Charter and amend it as follows:

Added4. Condemns, in the strongest terms, the backsliding on women’s rights and all regressive attempts to restrict or remove existing protections for SRHR and gender equality taking place globally, including in the EU Member States, as well as all forms of threats, intimidation and harassment directed against human rights defenders and civil society organisations working to advance these rights;

Added5. Is concerned about the significant surge in funding for anti-gender and anti-choice groups in the world, including in the EU; calls on the Commission to make use of all available tools to ensure that organisations working against gender equality and women’s rights including reproductive rights do not receive EU funding;

Added6. Urges the Member States to fully decriminalise abortion in line with the 2022 WHO guidelines, and to remove and combat obstacles to safe and legal abortion and access to SRHR; calls on Poland and Malta to repeal their laws and other measures concerning bans and restrictions on abortion; urges the Polish authorities to prioritise legislative efforts to ensure full access to safe and legal abortion as soon as possible; urges the Maltese authorities to immediately decriminalise abortion and provide access to safe and legal abortion in line with the 2022 WHO guidelines;

Added7. Urges all Member State governments to guarantee access to safe, legal and free abortion care, to pre-natal and maternal healthcare services and supplies, voluntary family planning, contraception and youth-friendly services, and to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, without discrimination;

Added8. Condemns the fact that, in some Member States, abortion is being denied by medical practitioners, and in some cases by entire medical institutions, on the basis of the ‘conscience’ clause; deplores the fact that this clause is often used in situations where any delay endangers the patient’s life or health;

Added9. Calls on the Member States to ensure access to the full range of SRHR services including comprehensive, age-appropriate and evidence-based sexuality and relationship education for all, high-quality, accessible, safe and free contraceptive methods and supplies, and family planning counselling, paying special attention to women of colour, Roma women, older women, women with lower education levels, LGBTIQ+ people, women with disabilities, adolescents, migrant women, including irregular migrants, and single women;

Added10. Calls on Member States and local governments to increase their spending on programmes and their direct subsidies to structures, including healthcare and family planning services and other organisations active in this field;

Added11. Urges Member State governments to make abortion methods and procedures an obligatory part of the curriculum for doctors and medical students, in particular gynaecology students;

Added12. Calls on all Member States to remove the legal, financial, social and practical barriers and restrictions on abortion, including those disproportionately affecting women in poverty, in particular racialised women, including black women and ethnic minority women, and women of single-parent households;

Added13. Acknowledges the important role of civil society organisations and SRHR human rights defenders as service providers and advocates for SRHR, and encourages them to continue their work; calls for the EU and the Member States to ensure and politically support an enabling civic space in the EU through a civil society strategy, to ensure the protection of women and SRHR human rights defenders through a protection mechanism for human rights defenders and to support them financially, notably through the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme; calls on Member States to improve access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including abortion, through the EU4Health programme;

Added14. Calls further for the EU to act as an advocate and make the recognition of this right a key priority in negotiations within international institutions and in other multilateral forums such as the Council of Europe and the UN; calls for the EU to ratify the European Convention on Human Rights;

Added15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.