カナダムスコカG8に向けてハーバー首相宛要望書

6月25日から27日まで、カナダのムスコカでＧ8サミットが開催されます。開催国カナダでは、保守的な政権が樹立されています。Ｇ8では、国際協力がテーマになり、さまざまな途上国での健康の課題について高所得国の資金拠出について話し合われますが、カナダは国外への人工妊娠中絶についての援助はしないという方針を発表しています。すぺーすアライズでは、日本国内のＧ8サミット担当者に対して、海外のリプロダクティブ・ライツ／ヘルスに取り組む活動体の応援を受けてＧ8で、安全な中絶への拠出を含めたリプロダクティブ・ライツ／ヘルスの実現を要求する書簡を提出しましたが、カナダのNational Abortion Federation Canadaの呼びかけに応じて、ハーバー首相宛に次の書面にも名を連ねています。この署名は6月22日にハーバー首相に届けられました。カナダではこの件について記者会見を開催しました。

June 22, 2010
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Canada
Dear Prime Minister Harper:
Earlier this year, you announced that maternal health will be a development priority at the G8
Summit in June. However, since this announcement, members of your cabinet have publicly
stated that the government’s maternal health strategy will not address unsafe abortions in
developing countries or support access to family planning and contraceptives. While we
commend your commitment to “champion a major initiative to improve the health of women and
children in the world’s poorest regions,”1 we know that in order to do so, the initiative must
address the comprehensive maternal and reproductive health care needs of women, including
access to safe abortion care.
The scientific evidence is overwhelming—access to safe, legal abortion care preserves
women’s health and saves women’s lives. Unsafe abortion remains one of the leading causes of
maternal mortality in developing nations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO),
nearly 70,000 women worldwide die from unsafe abortions annually and millions more are
injured, many permanently.2
International health, human rights, and development institutions, including Amnesty International
and UN Agencies, consistently link contraception and the state of maternal health in the
developing world. Recent research by the Guttmacher Institute and the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) also found that seventy percent of maternal deaths would be averted
and newborn deaths cut nearly in half, if existing unmet family planning and maternal and
newborn health needs were met.3
At last year’s G8 Summit in Italy, the G8 heads of government agreed that maternal and child
health was one of the world’s most pressing global health problems. They committed to
“accelerat[ing] progress…on maternal health, including through sexual and reproductive health
care and services and voluntary family planning.”4 It is imperative that the work done in Canada
build on—not backtrack from—previous commitments. Sexual and reproductive health and
rights, especially access to family planning, including contraception and safe abortion care,
must be a central component of the initiative.
1 http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/755721--g8-agenda-focus-on-human-welfare
2 http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2007/9789241596121_eng.pdf
3 http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/addingitup.pdf
4 Paragraph 122 of the conclusions from the 2009 G8 reads: “We promote a comprehensive and integrated approach to the
achievement of the health-related MDGs, also maximizing synergies between global health initiatives and health systems. We
will accelerate progress on combating child mortality, including through intensifying support for immunization and
micronutrient supplementation, and on maternal health, including through sexual and reproductive health care and services and
voluntary family planning. We warmly support building a global consensus on maternal, newborn and child health as a way to
accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals for both maternal and child health, through (i) political and
community leadership and engagement; (ii) a quality package of evidence-based interventions through effective health systems;
(iii) the removal of barriers to access for all women and children, free at the point of use where countries chose to provide it; (iv)
skilled health workers; (v) accountability for results. We encourage the work of the WHO, WB, UNICEF and UNFPA are
doing to renew international efforts on maternal and child health. We will implement further efforts towards universal access to
HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010, with particular focus on prevention and integration of services for
HIV/TB….” See: http://www.g8italia2009.it/static/G8_Allegato/G8_Declaration_08_07_09_final,0.pdf
The G8 Summit comes at a critical time. In addition to the G8 and G20 meetings in Canada,
world leaders will gather at the United Nations in September 2010, to take stock of progress on
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including MDG5 to reduce maternal mortality by
three quarters and establish universal access to reproductive health care by 2015.5 This is the
Goal toward which the least progress has been made by governments. The G8 maternal and
child health initiative must be situated within the broader strategy toward achievement of the
eight MDGs by 2015.
This is a significant opportunity to champion the health of some of the world’s poorest women.
We ask that you honour Canada’s long-standing tradition of recognizing women’s reproductive
rights and urge you to include access to contraception and abortion care in your initiative to
improve maternal health care.
Sincerely,
National Abortion Federation Canada; Canada
Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD); Canada
Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights; Canada
Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA); Canada
Fédération du Québec pour le planning des naissances (FQPN); Canada
Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand; New Zealand
Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada; Canada
Abortion-Information (formerly USPDA); Switzerland
Advocates for Youth; United States
Alliance for Choice; Northern Ireland
American Association of University Women; United States
An-Institut Sexualpadagogik und Familienplanung; Germany
Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women – Malaysia; International
Auckland Medical Aid Trust; New Zealand
British Pregnancy Advisory Services; United Kingdom
Canadian Federation for Sexual Health; Canada
Canadians for Choice; Canada
Catholics for Choice Canada; Canada
Catholics for Choice; United States
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir; Mexico
Center for Reproductive Rights; United States
Centre d’IVG Hôpital Delafontaine; France
Concentric Media; United States
Concept Foundation; International
Concept Foundation; Vietnam
Despenalizacion; Argentina
Doctors for a Woman’s Choice on Abortion; United Kingdom
Doctors for Choice; Ireland
Earth Life Africa; South Africa
East European Alliance for Reproductive Choice; Russia
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights; Egypt
Equidad de Género, Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia; Mexico
European Association of Free Thought; International
European Humanist Federation; International
European Pro-Choice Network; International
5 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG_Report_2009_ENG.pdf
Executive Committee of the European Society of Contraception and Reproductive Health;
International
Fédération des Centres de Planning Familial; Brussels
Federation for Women and Family Planning; Poland
Federation of Medical Women; Canada
FIAPAC; International
Foro de Mujeres y Políticas de Población; Mexico
Global Doctors for Choice; United States
Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida; Mexico
Gynuity Health Projects; United States
Hand Off Cain; Italy
Ibis Reproductive Health; South Africa
International Consortium for Medical Abortion; International
Ipas; International
Ipas; Mexico
Irish Family Planning Association; Ireland
Japan Forum for Biodiversity; Japan
Kvinnefronten; Norway
La Red Nacional Católica de Jóvenes por el Derecho a Decidir; Mexico
Luca Coscioni Association for Freedom of Research; Italy
LUNA – Federation of Dutch Speaking Abortion Clinics in Belgium; Belgium
Macedonian Network of Women Organizations; Macedonia
Manitoba Coalition for Reproductive Choice; Canada
Marie Stopes International; United Kingdom
Medical Students for Choice; Canada
Mix-Cité Rennes Mouvement mixte pour l’égalité entre les sexes; France
Moscow State Medico-Stomatological University; Russia
National Abortion Federation; United States
National Asian Pacific Women’s Forum; United States
National Association of Women and the Law; Canada
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association; United States
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health; United States
National Network of Abortion Funds; United States
National Partnership for Women and Families; United States
National Women’s Council of Ireland; Ireland
National Women’s Health Network; United States
National Women’s Law Center; United States
Network Against Honour-Related Violence; Sweden
Netzwerk Frauengesundheit Berlin; Germany
No Peace Without Justice; Italy
Nonviolent Radical Party; Italy
Our Bodies Ourselves; United States
Pro Familia Landesverband Berlin e. V.; Germany
Progressive Unionist Party; Northern Ireland
Red ACTIVAS; Spain
Red Latinoamericana de Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir; Mexico
Red por los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos en México; Mexico
REGINA Foundation; Hungary
Reproductive Rights Alliance; South Africa
Russian Association of Population and Development; Russia
Russian University of International Friendship; Russia
Secularism Is A Women's Issue; France
SEMAK; Macedonia
Sex and Samfund; Denmark
Sextures; Australia
Shirkat Gah; Pakistan
Slovak Family Planning Association; Slovakia
Space Allies; Japan
Spanish Clinics Association of Interruption of Pregnancy; Spain
Suisse Association de Professionels de L’avortment et de la Contraception; Switzerland
Swedish Association for Sexuality Education; Sweden
UK Reproductive Health Matters; United Kingdom
Woman-Child Health and Family Planning – Baskent University; Turkey
Women and HIV/AIDS Gauge; South Africa
Women on the Web; The Netherlands
Women Worldwide Advancing Freedom and Equality; United Kingdom
Women’s College Hospital; Canada
Women’s Health Action Trust; New Zealand
Women’s Health Foundation; Indonesia
Women’s Health Research Unit – University of Cape Town; South Africa
Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund; Canada
World Population Foundation; The Netherlands
YWCA Canada; Canada