Activities of Edite ESTRELA related to 2013/2040(INI)
Plenary speeches (4)
Sexual and reproductive health and rights (A7-0426/2013 - Edite Estrela) (vote)
Sexual and reproductive health and rights (A7-0426/2013 - Edite Estrela) (vote)
Sexual and reproductive health and rights (A7-0306/2013 - Edite Estrela) (vote)
Sexual and reproductive health and rights (short presentation)
Reports (2)
REPORT on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights PDF (302 KB) DOC (151 KB)
REPORT on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights PDF (313 KB) DOC (160 KB)
Amendments (52)
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas Article 8 TFEU states that in all its activities the Union shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
A b. whereas Article 168 TFEU states that the Union shall act in accordance with a high level of human health protection and to improve public health;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas women and men should, regardless of age, sex, race, ethnicity, class, caste, religious affiliation, marital status, occupation, disability, HIV (or STI) status, national origin, immigration status, language, sexual orientation and gender identity, have the freedomright to make their own informed and responsible choices as regards their sexual and reproductive health;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas unintended and unwanted pregnancies are still a problematic reality for many women in the EU, including teenage girls;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
C b. whereas in almost a third of EU member states, contraceptives are not covered under public health insurance, which is a serious barrier to access for certain groups of women, including low- income women, adolescents and women living in violent relationships;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas comprehensive, age- appropriate, evidence-based, scientifically accurate and non-judgemental sexuality education, quality family planning services and access to contraception helps to prevent unintended and unwanted pregnancies, reduces the need for an abortion and contributes to the prevention of HIV and STIs; and whereas teaching youth to take responsibility for their own sexual and reproductive health has long- term positive effects, lasting throughout their lifetime and having positive impact on the society;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. whereas an estimated five million young people aged 15-24 and two million adolescents aged 10-19 are living with HIV[1] and they typically fail to access and utilize sexual and reproductive health and HIV services as these rarely meet the unique sexual and reproductive health needs of young people in a comprehensive way; [1] UNICEF, Opportunity in crisis: preventing HIV from early adolescence to young adulthood, 2011.
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas, despite international commitments, there exists a disparity in the standard of sexual and reproductive health between and within Member States and inequality of sexual and reproductive rights enjoyed by women in Europe, depending on their country of residence, their income, age, migration status and other factors;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas adolescent mothers are less likely to graduate from high school and more likely to live in poverty;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
E b. whereas migrant, refugee and undocumented women face insecure economic and social situations, where concerns about sexual and reproductive health are often minimised or ignored;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas women and men should equally bear the responsibility of preventing unwanted pregnancies; whereas contraceptives are mainly used by women;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
F b. whereas preventing unwanted pregnancy is not only about contraceptive services and information but also includes the provision of comprehensive sexuality education as well as material and financial assistance for pregnant women in need;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas access to safe abortion is banned, except in very narrow circumstances, in three EU Member States (Ireland, Malta and Poland) and remains widely unavailable, though legal, throughextremely difficult to access in those countries even in instances when it is legal. Whereas in several other Member States abortion remains legal but is increasingly difficult to access due to regulatory or practical barriers such as the abuse of conscientious objection or overly restrictive interpretat, mandatory waiting perionds of existing limitsand biased counselling;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. whereas sex-related information supplied by mass media can provide both correct and false information; whereas comprehensive sexuality education schemes in school as well as in out-of- school settings are needed to assist adolescents in learning to differentiate between correct and false information, as well as to dispel myths and counterbalance discriminatory and gender stereotyping supplied by the mass media and mass culture;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas sexual violence is a serious human rights violation and has a devastating impact on the sexuality, dignity, psychological wellbeing, autonomy and reproductive health of women and girls, and whereas harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilations/cutting, early and forced marriage have a damaging effect on the personal well-being and self- esteem, sexual relations, pregnancies, childbirth and a lifelong risk to women's health, but also to the communities and society as a whole;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
H b. whereas violence against women, particularly domestic violence and rape, is widespread and rising numbers of women are at risk from Aids and other STIs as a result of high-risk sexual behaviour on the part of their partners; whereas such violence also occurs against pregnant women, increasing the likelihood of miscarriage, still birth or abortion;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
I a. Whereas women and girls who are persons in prostitution, use drugs and/or are transgender are most -at-risk of STIs, including HIV, and that their SRHR needs are often neglected,
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
J a. whereas published European Union statistics on sexual and reproductive health indicators are incomplete and hardly comparable because of different methods of collection and compilation between Member States;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
K a. whereas preventing unwanted pregnancy is about not only contraceptive services and information but also includes the provision of comprehensive sexuality education as well as material and financial assistance for pregnant women in need;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K b (new)
Recital K b (new)
K b. whereas there are examples of Member States combining liberal legislation on abortion with effective sexuality education, high quality family planning services and availability of different contraceptives which combine lower abortion rates and higher birth rates;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recallaffirms that ‘health is a fundamental human right indispensable for the exercise of other human rights’ and that the EU cannot reach the highest attainable standard of health unless the SRHR of all are fully acknowledged and promoted;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Stresses that violations of SRHR have a direct impact on women's and girl's lives, women's economic independence, on women's enjoyment of social services, on women's access to decision-making and participation in public life, on women's vulnerability to male violence, on women's access to education and the enjoyment of private life and therefore affect society as a whole;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Stresses that the empowerment of women and girls is key to breaking the cycle of discrimination and violence and for the promotion and protection of human rights, including sexual and reproductive health;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that SRHR are an essential element of human dignity to be addressed in the broader context of structural discrimination and gender inequalities; and calls on Member States to safeguard SRHR through the Fundamental Rights Agency by maintaining vigilance on policies and/or legislation which may infringe sexual and reproductive health and rights;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recallognises that SRHR are an essential element of human dignity to be addressed in the broader context of structural discrimination and gender inequalities; and calls on Member States to safeguard SRHR through the Fundamental Rights Agency;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Calls on the Member States to provide quality sexual and reproductive health services adapted to the needs of specific groups without any discrimination, fears of judgment (ex. youth, vulnerable groups); underlines that such services must equally target and facilitate men's and boy's active role in sharing responsibility for sexual behaviour and its consequences;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Calls on the Member States to ensure a geographically adequate distribution of quality health service points and quality and safe transportation options to guarantee equal access of their whole population, including women and girls living in rural areas;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that even though it is a competence of Member States to formulate and implement policies on SRHR, the EU can exercise policy-making competence in the area of public health and of non- discrimination, and should integrate issues related to SRHR in those areas, as well as support better implementation of sexual and reproductive rights legislation and policies in the Member States;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Calls on the Member States to provide access to sexual and reproductive health services through a rights-based approach and without any discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin, housing status, migration status, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, health or marital status;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Stresses that SRHR policies must take account of specific groups and the risks linked to their identities or situation, especially minority ethnic, pregnant or lesbian, bisexual or transgender women; children and young people; LGBTI persons; persons in prostitution; prisoners; migrants; and injectable drug users;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Calls on the EU and its Member States to compile and monitor more comprehensive data and statistics regarding sexual and reproductive health indicators (STIs, abortion and contraception rates, unmet need for contraception, adolescent pregnancy, etc.), disaggregated at least by gender and age;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Calls on the Member States to guarantee sustainable funding to public services and civil society organisations providing services in the field of sexual and reproductive health;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Expresses its dissatisfaction that the Commission deleted all findings linked to SRHR (including contraception, reproductive health and sexuality) from the final version of its 2012 report 'The state of men's health in Europe';
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that the current austerity measures have a detrimental impact, particularly for women, on public health services related to sexual and reproductive health, both in terms of quality and accessibility,both in terms of quality, affordability and accessibility on public health services, information and programmes to sexual and reproductive health, as well as on family planning organisations, on NGO service providers, and on women's economic independence;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Calls on the Member States to develop a SRHR strategy with allocated budget, an implementation plan and a monitoring system associated to it;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2
Subheading 2
As regards unintended and unwanted pregnancy: access to contraception and safe abortion services
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Urges Member States, in view of the impact of the financial and economic crisis on the public health sector, to provide contraceptive information and services and other sexual and reproductive health services free of charge or make them financially accessible to all segments of the population, including young people, ethnic minorities and the socially excluded;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Emphasises that voluntary family planning contributes to preventing unintended and unwanted pregnancies and reduces the need for an abortion;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7 c. Calls on the Member States to refrain from preventing pregnant women seeking abortion to travel to other Member States or jurisdictions where the procedure is legal;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Recommends that, as a human rights and public health concern, abortion should be made legal, safe, and accessible to all;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recommends that the Member States continue providing the information and services necessary to maintain a low level of maternal mortality and make further efforts to lower maternal mortality and to guarantee quality ante- and post-natal care;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Stresses that young people's participation is vital for comprehensive sexuality education to be effective; young people should be included in the development, implementation and evaluation of such programs, in cooperation with other stakeholders, such as parents; encourages the use of peer educators in sexuality education as a good way to lead to empowerment;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13 b. Stresses that sexuality education must be designed and implemented in a holistic, rights-based and positive way, emphasizing the development of life skills and including both the psycho-social and bio-medical aspects of sexual and reproductive health and rights; underlines that sexuality education must be provided in a safe, taboo-free, interactive atmosphere between students and educators;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Underlines that the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents differ from those of adults; callurges on the Member States to ensure that adolescents and vulnerable adults (disabled, illiterate, refugees, LGBTI persons, etc.) have access to user-friendly services where their concerns and rights to confidentiality and privacy are duly taken into account;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Reminds Member States that they must ensure children and young people can enjoy their right to seek, receive and impart information related to sexuality, including sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, in an age- appropriate and gender-sensitive manner;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Calls on the Member States to maintain and increase the quality and the level of information made available to the general public (particularly to those most vulnerable or marginalized) on STIs, particularly HIV/AIDS, the ways in which diseases are transmitted, the sexual practices which facilitate transmission, and prevention methods;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Calls on Member States to provide prevention activities besides Voluntary Counselling and Testing
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the specific SRHR of people living with HIV/AIDS, with a focus on the needs of women and at-risk populations including men who have sex with men, persons in prostitution, prisoners, migrants and injectable drug users, notably by integrating access to testing and treatment and reversing the underlying socioeconomic factors contributing to the risk to women and at-risk populations of HIV/AIDS, such as gender inequality and discrimination;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Calls on the EU to promote and invest in research and development of new and improved acceptable, affordable, accessible and quality prevention technologies, diagnostics and treatments, targeting HIV & AIDS and other STIs as well as neglected tropical diseases in order to reduce the burden of these diseases on maternal and child health;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Recommends the Member States to ensure that women and men of all social and ethnic groups must give their fully informed consent to all medical services and procedures such as contraceptive services, sterilization and abortion; calls on the Member States to establish procedures that guarantee the freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment in reproductive health care settings, with a particular focus on detention centres, prisons, and mental health and elderly care institutions;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Calls on Member States to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23 a. Urges the Commission and EEAS to, in human rights dialogues, address the barriers people face when trying to access reproductive health services and exercise their Sexual and Reproductive Rights;