343 women from 28 countries throughout Europe decided to stand up together for women’s rights in the European Union and throughout the world. Feminist activists, politicians, or simple citizens, they launch today a common Manifesto -paying tribute to the Manifesto 343 which was released in France in 1971. With this call, they refuse to give up while confronting regressive policies in the continent, they refuse inequalities between European women, they claim for enlarging the right to safe and legal abortion in the EU.

The right to a safe and legal abortion has been hardly obtained in many European countries, and some women still do not have the choice over their own bodies. The rise of nationalisms and conservatism in the European Union put this right under threat, and some back moves are occuring from the East to the West, from the North to the South. This is unacceptable. Because this right is neither a whim, nor an option, but a necessity for a Europe of liberties, equality and democracy.

The right to a safe and legal abortion should be universal. It should be available for any woman. If the European Union pretends to be defending human rights, it should be willing enough to enforce this right throughout the EU and to promote it throughout the world.

We know that in some countries, taking a stand and defending this right is difficult, that sometimes even liberty of expression is threatened. This is why we wrote this Manifesto paying tribute to the first 343 Manifesto sent out at a time when defending this right was almost impossible.

This is why we stand together, and we say it out loud: for each one of us in the EU, and for all the women in the planet, we stand and will keep on standing up for our rights!

Read the full text of the manifesto HERE

The call is open for signatures: 343manifesto.eu