Sample Position Paper

Delegation From: France

Represented by: Mistika Idris

Position Paper for United Nations Human Rights Council

Granting Greater Access to Abortion for Women

Sustainable Development Goal 5 aims to end all forms of sexual discrimination, however,
gender equality and economic empowerment for women cannot be achieved without universal access
to sexual reproductive health and rights. The issues that endanger the life of a woman are due to social,
religious and legislative pressures asserted onto them. The country of France believes that the rights of
women should not only be protected but should be prioritised. That abortion is not a political issue, as
some countries see it but is essentially a health issue. France believes that the right to safe and
accessible abortion is an essential right for all women in the world and that it must be free, accessible
to all and it is for this reason that the country of France views that the right to an abortion should be
recognized as an inalienable right within the United Nations.
Almost 40 years ago, due to the Veil Law of 1975, the abortion law in France was liberalised.
However, prior to that, the action of abortion was considered a capital crime except in cases of saving
the pregnant woman’s life or when it was seriously endangered. In 2015, the law removed the
mandatory waiting period for an abortion and today, abortion is permitted on the grounds of saving the
life of the woman, to preserve physical health, to preserve mental health, in instances of rape and or
incest, in instances of foetal impairment and finally for economic and social reasons.
France strongly believes in attaining equality between men and women in eliminating all forms
of discrimination against women as fundamental human rights and the country of France fully supports
the right to abortion as a reproductive right. The most significant development in abortion legislation
since the Veli Law of 1975 has been the approval by the French Government in 1988 of the “abortion
pill” known as the RU-486 and France believes in the dissemination of the mentioned drug under close
supervision of professionals as it is more cost effective and accessible than abortions as well as
informing women about emergency contraception.
France agrees with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women that
states that “to make an informed decision about safe and reliable contraceptive measures, women must
have information about contraceptives measures as well as guaranteed access to sex education and
family planning services”. Women’s lack of information on contraception has a direct impact on their
right to decide and their right to their state of health. The country of France believes that to take
control of decisions in their lives, women must be educated and informed. Proper infrastructure should
be provided to women with proper doctors and abortion clinics, as well as supplementing existing
programmes and NGO’s who relate to this issue (WHO). France also proposes starting a programme
from middle school up to secondary school to educate kids and adolescents about sexual education,
safety of the body and the use of contraceptives. France also believes in encouraging male
involvement in family planning in countering opposition to it.
60 % of the world population live in countries where abortion is prohibited or are severely
restricted. France disagrees with countries where women are endangered by unsafe abortion,
threatened with capital punishment and are subjected to stigmatisation in the absence of legal abortion
and progressive laws that endanger the lives of women who instead seek more dangerous alternative
routes. According to the Guttmacher Institute, it reports that banning abortion does not reduce its
demands but leads to women using more unsafe and illegal means to end their pregnancies. The
country of France would urge all member states to make abortion rights a fundamental human right for
all people across the world. France proposes the creation of a framework to all member states which
serves to exemplify France’s strong legislation and policies in increasing and ensuring the rights of
women in relation to the issue abortion.
France is confident that if healthcare was more emphasised in countries, by having Universal
Healthcare Programmes that focuses on making abortion costs, contraceptives, consultations and
counselling free to all their citizens, it would lead to a decrease in complications and fatalities resulting
from unsafe abortions and ultimately a decrease in the rate of abortions. National governments should
increase budgetary allocation for family planning and seek donor support as necessary. Abortions,
simply react to economic conditions and women feeling unsupported by States and motivated by a
lack of resources. It was found that the main reasons why women would choose abortion as an option
is due to the economic strain that they would face.
The reasons most frequently cited were that having a child would interfere with a woman's
education, work or ability to care for dependents (74%); that she could not afford a baby now (73%).
France believes in providing paid maternity leave to help alleviate these concerns and making it more
likely that a woman will choose to keep her unplanned child. To cut the abortion rate for girls under
the age of 18, school officials have recently included a nonprescription progesterone pill, called
Norlevo, in the school nurse's kit. Norlevo is described by the French government as a ''late
contraception'' pill because it prevents an already fertilised egg from implanting in the uterus. France
believes that albeit a controversial decision but necessary to cut the rate of abortion especially for
young women under the age of 18 still in school. In France, only 10.5 of 1,000 girls under the age of
20 had an abortion in 1995, the most recent figure available, according to the World Health
Organization.
Furthermore, when looking at the issue of Abortion Rights, the most palpable solution is to use
the power of social media as it can create space for successful advocacy for policies and legislations
relating to women’s rights. National authorities as well as non-governmental organisations should
undertake a communications campaign which transmits positive messages about the values and rights
of women as well as a platform for women to share their stories and experiences on the issue of
abortion. The mass media can also be used to address common concerns underlying nonusers of
contraception. However, France also believes that social media is a solution to be looked at critically
in relation to challenges such as the digital divide, access and cultural, social, and political divide that
perpetuates gender discrimination against women. The country of France aims to join forces with
internet services which can protect the wellbeing of women and men when discussing the issue of
abortion. France agrees with making google translate more gender aware, as language can be one of
the most crucial barriers in learning about reproductive health and the rights of women and to
supplement NGO’s and bodies that pre-exist in order to curb the issue of cyberbullying such as the
“Take Back The Tech Campaign”. France also proposes supporting Organisations such as the IPPF
who advocate for everyone’s right to sexual and reproductive health and for gender equality as well as
the de-stigmatization of abortions through advocacy.

2. The Provision Of Greater Socioeconomic Opportunities for Migrant Workers

As migrant workers are not citizens of receiving states, they are often vulnerable to human
rights violations due to their status and often live in degrading situations that go against the values
upheld by this committee. The phenomenon of globalisation and the decline in transportation and
communication costs as well as the reduction in policy induced barriers have brought with it a rapid
increase in the flow of goods, capital, people and knowledge
France has long been a country of immigration. Since the First World War, as many as 1.5
million foreigners have come to work in the country. France is a party to both the European
Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers and the ILO Convention concerning Migration for
Employment but it has not ratified the UN Convention on the rights of migrant workers as sovereignty
of countries are challenged as the values that a country subscribes to and the values that a country was
built upon are not being considered when migrant workers legislations are being ratified, passed and
enacted. France is with the countries of Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands in not having any
current intention to ratify the Convention because of the consequences it would have for their national
legislation especially in terms of fiscal dispositions in France.
A financial obstacle can be found in France's argument against ratification, i.e. the remittances
issue. The Convention requires from the receiving State that it facilitates the transfer of remittances.
But in France, this represents a huge amount of governmental and bank fees. So, ratifying the
Convention would imply general financial loss which the government of France is not willing to take.
As France is a country with major immigration flows, our government's main concern is that
the ratification of the Convention on Migrant Rights could act as a motivating factor for irregular
immigration. This is because the Convention grants a set of rights for undocumented or irregular
migrants and goes far beyond what is required to ensure and protect their human rights. This would go
against France’s fight against “illegal immigration”.
However, if a consensus can be reached and sovereignty of countries as well as the ratification
of legislations that does not encourage irregular migrants from entering borders is enacted, France
would support such a Convention as although the government of France places Human Rights issues
as its utmost priority however the safety of its people is prioritised.
References

1. Cohen, S. 2012. Access to safe abortion in the developing world: Saving lives while advancing
rights. [Online] Available at: https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2012/10/access-safe-abortion-
developing-world-saving-lives-while-advancing-rights Access Date: 26th March 2017
2. F, Ingrid & Y, Yoriko, 2017. World Economic Forum. Lets Talk About Sex. Women’s Rights
And Freedoms depend on it. [Online] Available at:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/sexual-equality-womens-reproductive-rights-unfpa/
Access Date: 27th March 2017
3. Global Agenda Council on Women’s Empowerment 2011-2012, 2013. World Economic
Forum. Five Challenges, One Solution: Women. [Online] Available at:
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GAC_WomensEmpowerment_FiveChallangesOneSolution
_Compendium_2013.pdf Access Date: 28th March 2017
4. Johnson, D. 2000. Op-Ed; Abortion: The French Solution. [Online] Available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/04/16/specials/johnson-franceed.html Access Date: 25th March
2017
5. UN Chronicle, 2013. Protection Of Migrant Rights and State Sovereignty. [Online] Available
at: https://unchronicle.un.org/article/protection-migrants-rights-and-state-sovereignty Access Date:
28th March 2017