Seán Haughey
Question:415 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if decisions were made recently to fund abortions in the Third World through the EU; the reason for this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19707/03]
Written Answers. - Human Rights Issues.
I presume the Deputy is referring to the regulation on reproductive and sexual health and rights, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 20 May 2003. In March 2002, the European Commission submitted a proposal to the Council and the European Parliament for a new regulation on reproductive and sexual health and rights in developing countries. The previous regulation expired on 31 December 2002 having been in force since 1997. The purpose of both the previous regulation and its replacement is to allow the Commission to continue to support programmes in developing countries in the area of reproductive and sexual health and rights. The Commission's role in relation to development co-operation is laid down in Articles 177 to 181 of the treaty establishing the European Community.
The previous and current regulations form an important part of the EC's development policy. In particular, the legislation addresses the specific United Nations Millennium Development Goal relating to maternal health, which calls for the reduction of maternal mortality by three quarters over the period 1990 to 2015. Throughout the developing world, and particularly in the poorest countries, hundreds of thousands of women continue to die in childbirth because health systems cannot afford proper medical care and appropriate services.
The current regulation, like the previous 1997 to 2002 instrument, is based on the programme of action agreed by consensus at the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 and the "Cairo + 5" follow up conference of 1999. Ireland's position in the Council negotiations on both the current regulation and its predecessor was that they must be in strict conformity with the Cairo programme of action, which provides that abortion is not to be promoted as a family planning method and that regulations regarding abortion are solely for individual countries to decide. The Government is satisfied that the current regulation meets this requirement and that it represents a substantial contribution by the European Union towards implementation of the millennium development goals, to which the international community is committed.