TORIES VOTE ANTI-WOMEN AGAIN

The Tories are at it again, abstaining on votes in the European Parliament which will have a profoundly beneficial impact on women's lives.

A report went through today on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union 2004 - 2007. Written by Italian Communist, Giusto Catania, the report looked at all aspects of the European Declaration of Fundamental Rights.

Yet this was not good enough for the British Tories, some of whom abstained on two crucial votes on women.

Beazley, Bushill-Matthews, Deva, Kirkhope, McMillan-Scott, Stevenson, Sturdy and Tannock would only accept the paragraph below if all references to sexual and reproductive health (the italicised section) were deleted:

"Stresses the need to raise public awareness of the right to reproductive and sexual health, and calls on the Member States to ensure that women can fully enjoy these rights, to put in place appropriate sex education, information and confidential advisory services,
and to facilitate access to contraception in order to prevent all unwanted pregnancies and illegal and high-risk abortions, and to combat the practice of female genital mutilation"

The other Tories abstained, with only Atkins, Karim and Purvis accepting the complete paragraph.

The other significant paragraph was:

"Stresses that ethnic minority women should be ensured access to public funds, irrespective of their legal status, to enable them to access safe, equal, culturally sensitive health services and rights, in particular sexual and reproductive health and rights; a European legal framework to ensure the physical integrity of young girls from Female Genital Mutilation should be adopted "

Only Purvis accepted this complete paragraph. All other Tories either abstained or voted against the complete text, objecting to the section highlighted above.

Interesting that this week it was only men who were representing the Conservative Party in Europe.