Rio de Janeiro - Each year thousands of women in Latin America and the Caribbean die or are injured from unsafe, illegal abortions. From December 3-4, advocates in Rio de Janeiro met to discuss the decriminilization of abortion in the region. The resulting declaration known as the Guanabara Letter was approved by 98 representatives of 27 countries.
Below is the complete text of the letter, followed by the signatures that have been gathered to date.
Rio de Janeiro, December 5, 2001
To all Governments, International Institutions and Peoples of the World:
We, women of the world, representing diverse backgrounds and as part of the exercise of our citizenship, demand WOMEN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE as an expression of LIBERTY.
We are speaking from a world region where the achievement of democracy has been and continues to be marked by events and struggles in which women have taken a leading role.
Historically, both ideology and institutions have restricted women's rights.
Neo-liberal policies are producing more poverty and social exclusion, and must be eradicated in order to promote social justice and solidarity.
In the face of many different forms of fundamentalism, which are opposed to the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of peoples in every part of the world, we have come together once more to speak out and to confront this situation.
Historically, men who wage war, and all those who support them, have never been concerned about the rights of women.
It is men of war who have imposed the Global Gag Rule, a restrictive financial policy imposed by the United States Government, which directly affects our countries. By prohibiting any mention of or action regarding abortion, the Gag Rule is an infringement on our sexual and reproductive rights.
Sexual and reproductive rights have been conceptualized and promoted by the Women's Movement as a means of bringing more justice and democracy into our lives at a social level, and to extend the concepts of liberty and equality in both the public and private spheres. These rights must be exercised without coercion or discrimination of any kind, BECAUSE THEY ARE PART OF OUR RIGHTS AS CITIZENS.
THE RIGHT TO ABORTION IS A PART OF HUMAN RIGHTS. To penalize abortion is a form of discrimination and an act of violence against women.
When abortions must be performed in clandestine conditions and illegally, all women are affected, but especially poor women. Without access to safe abortion services, their health and lives are put at grave risk.
In order to strengthen democracy at a social level, women of every class, race, ethnicity and culture, of all ages, religions and sexual orientation, must be able to control their own bodies and make their own decisions about their lives, and these (referring to decisions) must be respected by the secular State.
We demand respect for women's intellectual and ethical capacity to decide autonomously and in a responsible way about their sexuality and whether or not to have children.
We insist on the legitimacy of the many reasons why we as women seek recourse to abortion.
We demand that all States fulfill the commitments that they have assumed in the International Conferences and Conventions of the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS), because these are a means of supporting the elimination of social inequalities.
We demand the decriminalization of abortion as a matter of citizenship and of social justice.
We demand the right of women to terminate an unwanted pregnancy without being condemned or treated as criminals or sinners.
And, finally, we call on all peoples and movements committed to:
- the promotion and protection of human rights and the right to live with dignity;
- the struggle against neo-liberal globalization policies;
- the sustainability of the environment;
- the defense of social justice; and
- the defense of equality between men and women
to join our struggle for the DECRIMINALIZATION OF ABORTION and for THE FREEDOM TO EXERCISE SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.
We want to leave a lasting mark on the road towards strengthening and defending democracy and empowering the women of Latin American and the Caribbean, and the entire world.
Signatures can be added to the list below and sent by e-mail to campanha28set@uol.com.br.
Signatories:
