Universal access to sexual and reproductive health services

Salud sexual y reproductiva
Chapter
D

Region countries have Instruments on D. Sexual and reproductive health

Policies and instruments

This chapter of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development recognizes sexual and reproductive rights as an integral part of human rights. This represents a step forward regarding the recognition of reproductive rights in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, positioning Latin America and the Caribbean at the forefront of the global effort to acknowledge these rights. Consequently, sexual rights, reproductive rights, sexual health, and reproductive health are intricately interconnected, often in a complex manner, within the realm of priority actions.

In relation to the goal outlined in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, which were subsequently adopted and expanded upon in Sustainable Development Goals targets 3.7 and 5.6, aiming at achieving universal access to reproductive health, progress has been insufficient and uneven, although there have been notable accomplishments in this regard, as evidenced in the First Regional Report on the Implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development.

Priority Measures

  • D.34 - Policies for the exercise of sexual rights

    34
    Promote policies that enable persons to exercise their sexual rights, which embrace the right to a safe and full sex life, as well as the right to take free, informed, voluntary and responsible decisions on their sexuality, sexual orientation and gender identity, without coercion, discrimination or violence, and that guarantee the right to information and the means necessary for their sexual health and reproductive health.

  • D.35 - Access to information

    35
    Review legislation, standards and practices that restrict access to sexual and reproductive health services, including the provision of comprehensive user-friendly services for adolescents and youth, and guarantee access to full information on all of the service options available to all persons, without any form of discrimination, in order to ensure that the highest international standards of protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms are met in the region.

  • D.37 - Universal access to quality sexual and reproductive health services

    37
    Guarantee universal access to good-quality sexual health and reproductive health services, bearing in mind the specific needs of men and women, adolescents and young people, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, older persons and persons with disabilities, with special attention to vulnerable persons, persons living in rural and remote areas and to the promotion of citizen participation in the follow-up to commitments.

  • D.40 - Eliminate causes of maternal morbidity and mortality

    40
    Eliminate preventable cases of maternal morbidity and mortality, including, within the set of integrated benefits of sexual health and reproductive health services, measures for preventing and avoiding unsafe abortion, including sexual health and reproductive health education, access to modern and effective contraceptive methods, counselling and comprehensive care in cases of unwanted and unaccepted pregnancy, as well as comprehensive post-abortion care, where necessary, on the basis of a risk- and harm-reduction strategy.

  • D.42 - Safe and quality abortion services in legal or decriminalized abortion settings

    42
    Ensure, in those cases where abortion is legal or decriminalized under the relevant national legislation, the availability of safe, good-quality abortion services for women with unwanted and unaccepted pregnancies, and urge all other States to consider amending their laws, regulations, strategies and public policies relating to the voluntary termination of pregnancy in order to protect the lives and health of women and adolescent girls, improve their quality of life, and reduce the number of abortions.

  • D.43 - Comprehensive health care in the reproductive process for all women

    43
    Ensure that all women have effective access to comprehensive health care during the reproductive process and specifically to skilled, institutional, compassionate obstetric care and to the best possible maternal health services during pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium, as well as to services that include the termination of pregnancy in those cases where the law provides for such services, and guarantee universal access to assisted fertility treatments.

  • D.45 - Detection of pregnancy disorders

    45
    Formulate plans for strengthening mechanisms for detecting problems during pregnancy, including at the preconception stage, improve the quality of antenatal care to include an intercultural perspective, guarantee the provision of a safe supply of blood for care during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum and puerperium period, and enhance compassionate care during delivery and birth and comprehensive perinatal care, bearing in mind the needs of women, boys, girls and families.

Instruments

SDG

Indicators

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