The Sexual Rights Initiative drafted this statement and is seeking NGO signatories. It will be presented to the Human Rights Council No.48 on 4 October 2021 in Geneva. The statement opens:
“We make this statement on behalf of…XX…..organisations and ..XX.. individuals. The Vienna Declaration is now 28 years old. The ICPD Programme of Action is now 27 years old. The Beijing Declaration is now 26 years old. And women are still not considered fully human, entitled to the rights enshrined in all these documents. If we were, we would not be dying in the hundreds of thousands every year because of violations to our sexual and reproductive rights. This International Safe Abortion Day, we demand our human rights to free, safe and accessible abortion, NOW. Not after the pandemic, not after the never ending economic crises, not after whatever issue that is considered more important, NOW. Today and every day more than 800 women and girls will die because States do not consider us worthy to enjoy even the most basic human rights. Each year between 4.7% – 13.2% of maternal deaths can be attributed to unsafe abortion.”
[The second paragraph of the statement lists WHO maternal mortality estimates for all countries.]
[The statement ends:]
“Every country in the world and the UN are implicated in our preventable deaths and morbidity. We demand our human rights to free, safe and accessible abortion NOW.
- Statement in English
- Statement in French
- Statement in Spanish
- Statement in Arabic
- Statement in Russian (soon)
SOURCE: Sexual Rights Initiative, 13 September 2021