Madam President - Dear Colleagues 

I want to start by thanking the hosts for the hospitality we have enjoyed here in Birmingham. It has been a pleasure working at the OSCE parliament  assembly and also to arrive here every morning, receiving a big and warm smile from the security staff at the front door. 

And it has also been heart-warming to witness the solidarity of all our members with the nation of Ukraine. Being united in condemning in the strongest terms the brutality of the Russian Army in Ukraine makes the OSCE community stronger. We send our deepest condolences to the victims of the horrific atrocity.  We all stand with Ukraine. 

But while the world is focused on the War in Ukraine, the US Supreme court has removed the constitutional right to abortion, overturning a legal precedent made almost half a century ago in the case of Roe vs Wade. 

How could that happen in the Year 2022, that the human rights of pregnant girls and women are restricted? The United States used to be a frontrunner in the protection of human rights. But today, not for pregnant women, only for others.

Where is the human rights protection for the ten-year-old girl, a rape victim that bears the perpetrator's „sins„ in her womb? Why is the US judicial system now forcing this child to go through the horror of carrying her perpetrator’s offspring only to give it away to a foster home? That is if her young body survives the ordeal of pregnancy and childbirth. Every year more than 120 thousand children are awaiting adoption in the US and the number of children without a home or a family is almost half a million. 

And it is not only this little girl, that was on the front page of a US newspaper this week, who is suffering. Also the mother of 4 without a job, also a junk addict that didn’t have a clue about her pregnancy and doesn’t know who the father is or where to stay for the next weeks and months. Also the human rights of a typical woman in a stable relationship and secure employment that simply does not wish to carry her pregnancy to term. Her rights to her own body are still fundamental.

Dear Colleagues, I urge you all, to protect the human rights of every woman, making sure they have their right to decide over their own bodies. Abortion rights are fundamental human rights for women. No judge is allowed to withdraw that right - while the world is looking in another direction.

Thank you.