Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-07-02-Speech-2-311"
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"en.20020702.14.2-311"2
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"Thank you, Mr President, the preparation for this report can be described as bizarre, to say the least. Sensible texts on sexuality which should be so evident that one could almost describe them as open doors. Yet, there are Members of this Parliament who believe that the report should be taken apart. Very bizarre.
In the eyes of my group, these issues should be dealt with at Member State level. However, once the decision was made to draft a report, we simply decided to cooperate in a constructive manner with a view to achieving a good content. We would congratulate Mrs Van Lancker who did a sterling job in this respect. She is right to call for effective measures.
The provision of sexual information is essential to avoid unwanted pregnancies and diseases. Statistics clearly bear this out. In addition, as Mrs Gröner pointed out a moment ago, owning your own body and your sexuality is a right. It is, in my view, a fundamental right that should not only be guaranteed in Europe and the candidate countries, but throughout the world.
Most EU countries apply sound legal provisions where birth control and abortion are concerned. In those countries, health risks have fallen. It would therefore be completely implausible if we were to adopt amendments in this Parliament tomorrow which would force the Van Lancker report to make a step backwards in relation to the effective provisions in the Member States. The ELDR Group is therefore opposed to the overwhelming majority of the tabled amendments, because these threaten to undermine the very balanced text. We support the current text, certainly with regard to the two most sensitive issues: the morning-after pill must be cheap and available over the counter, and abortion must be safe and legal. Those who do not support this create the possibility of very vulnerable women and girls once again ending up in little backrooms with knitting needles in the foreseeable future. If that is the message that this Parliament sends out tomorrow, our group will refuse to have any part in this."@en1
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