European youth deserves better contraception

Despite the progress we have made in advancing reproductive rights across Europe, young people and women continue to face inequalities in accessing sexual and reproductive services. With many pregnancies in Europe still unintended, this issue needs urgent attention, she warns.

Lina Gálvez is a Member of the Parliament (Spain, S&D) and the chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM). 

This World Contraception Day, it is time to address the contraception awareness gap that leaves many people in the dark about their reproductive choices, limiting their access to some of the most reliable and effective methods available.

However, the contraception awareness gap is just one part of a wider issue regarding women’s right to bodily autonomy. With more than one-third of pregnancies in Europe unintended, access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including contraception and abortion, remains deeply unequal across the EU.

Belgium serves as a stark reminder of this inequality. Under its current laws, women can only access abortion up to 12 weeks into their pregnancy. Every year, this limit forces more than 350 women to travel to the Netherlands for abortion services, as they cannot access care in their own country.

Last year, the findings of a report written by experts and commissioned by the Belgian government clearly stated the need to extend the legal limit for voluntary termination of pregnancy from 12 to 18 weeks and to abolish the mandatory consideration period.

In the same year, a reform was approved in Spain to ensure the provision of voluntary abortions in public health centres, to remove the need for parental authorisation for minors aged 16 and 17, and to regulate conscientious objection – an important achievement for the rights of women and girls in the country.

If we are serious about achieving equality and protecting the future of young people and women, we must ensure that they are not denied access to accurate and comprehensive information about contraception and reproductive health services because of where they live or what language they speak.

As the European Parliamentary Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) 2024 Contraception Awareness Survey [1] shows, just over half of young people in Europe use some form of contraception, and less than 10% of young women choose long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), despite its proven effectiveness.

This knowledge gap, even in countries that otherwise pride themselves on protecting reproductive rights, is a major failure of the health systems in the EU. Policymakers have a responsibility to close this gap by providing comprehensive sexuality education, ensuring that contraception counselling is readily available, and advocating for healthcare systems that offer more than the basics.

Knowledge is power, and in the case of comprehensive sexuality education, it is also a human right. Young people across Europe identify the lack of information as a major barrier to accessing the full range of contraceptive options, and only 30% of them report receiving information from their healthcare provider about anything other than the contraceptive pill.

Misconceptions about the effectiveness of different methods are widespread, and stigma around contraception still exists in many European societies. In environments where schools offer little to no sexual education, many young people turn to the internet for answers, with very mixed results. Allowing young people to navigate contraception through trial and error is not only irresponsible but also a violation of their rights.

In 2021, the European Parliament voted to adopt the report on the Situation of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the EU, which unequivocally declared that access to modern contraception is an essential healthcare service.

The report, led by former MEP Predrag Fred Matić (Croatia, S&D), recognises sexual and reproductive rights as human rights under international and European law. Violations of these rights are therefore considered a form of violence against women and girls, which constitute human rights violations and impede progress towards gender equality.

It is a beautiful and powerful legacy that Matić, who sadly passed away on 23 August 2024, has left us. As chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) and as a member of the group of Members of the European Parliament for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (MEPs for SRR), I am deeply committed to using the Matić report as a tool to advance these rights for every person in Europe and in the world.

I am proud that last year, with the resolution on the Inclusion of the right to abortion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, we urged member states to guarantee women’s access to safe and legal abortion to every woman and girl across Europe.

In the 10th legislation, we must pave the way forward and continue to take the lead in advancing sexual and reproductive rights across the EU and its member states. To achieve this, now more than ever, we must present a united front in the face of the anti-gender movements and stand firm against the growing backlash against human and women’s rights.

It is time to transform awareness into action. Ensuring that young people and women have full, informed access to sexual and reproductive services is not just a healthcare issue; it is a human rights imperative. Let’s work together to protect the reproductive futures of people across all member states and move closer to realising the Union of Equality.