A group of 57 Nordic Parliamentarians from across the political spectrum have come together today to address Honduras' new President, Xiomara Castro. The letter strongly encourages her to keep to her commitments on safe abortion and SRHR rights in general. The letter reads as follows:
We, the undersigned 57 members of the Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish Parliaments’ Networks on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), would like to congratulate you on your victory in last year's presidential election. With great excitement we welcome your promises to alleviate poverty and work for a liberalisation of Honduras’ strict abortion laws. We stand behind you in your efforts to make changes that will reduce or end the suffering of women and girls in Honduras.
As parliamentary networks, we work across political boundaries for SRHR for all. We closely follow international processes in this area, including abortion rights as we believe SRHR are a precondition for gender equality, the fulfillment of a range of other rights, and an inevitable part of the global fight against poverty.
We are aware that the previous Government of Honduras banned emergency contraception, enshrined abortion curbs in the constitution, and decreased criminal penalties for gender-based violence. Making Honduras the only country in Latin America with absolute bans on both abortion and emergency contraceptives. Your struggle to undo these regressive policies of previous governments might be hard but we - and many with us - stand behind you in your efforts to make a historical shift for SRHR and women's rights in your country.
Dear Madam President; Your willingness and ability to stand up for the rights of women and girls in Honduras, including access to safe abortion, is commendable. In the case that you would require any support in this process, please do not hesitate to contact us - we stand with you in the steadfast resolve to fight for gender equality and human rights for all.
For the full list of signatories please see the PDF downloads below.