What Karen spoke about.

8 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Global threats to abortion rights: the possible overturn of abortion rights in the US by the Supreme Court (debate)

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Madam President, this is my body. The state does not own my body. I live in, I live through, and I walk the earth with my body. I own my body. I own my ear lobes, my kidney, my organs when I die. I decide. Why should the state interfere with my uterus as the only organ of my body? What are we discussing today? It is a global debate. The protection of my human dignity. A fundamental right. My auton…

8 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Global threats to abortion rights: the possible overturn of abortion rights in the US by the Supreme Court (debate)

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Thank you very much for mentioning the referendum on the repeal of the Eighth Amendment in Ireland. As parliamentarians and as community leaders, how can we, from this side of the Atlantic, help the community leaders and the parliamentarians in the US in their fight for abortion rights?…

8 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Global threats to abortion rights: the possible overturn of abortion rights in the US by the Supreme Court (debate)

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You mentioned Article 2 of the Treaty. In that article, there is also the right to equality. Are all of the rights mentioned in Article 2 of the Treaty not equal?

8 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Global threats to abortion rights: the possible overturn of abortion rights in the US by the Supreme Court (debate)

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Thank you very much, Terry, for your speech, and I hope that your throat is going to feel better. In this debate, there is a lot of influence from religious communities and churches. Do you see that in such a debate as today, wearing a Christian cross around the neck when speaking is a political symbol?…

20 Jan

2022

DA Speech

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the European Union (continuation of debate)

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Madam President! If men were to have abortions, then we were not here today, so it was a declared natural part of health care that everyone had access to. It was not a debate at all. The right to access sexual and reproductive health is not just a matter for women. It is a matter for all of us, for men and women and for all citizens of Europe. And we cannot talk about equality, we cannot talk abou…

19 Jan

2022

DA Speech

Digital Services Act (continuation of debate)

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Mr President! Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President, Thierry Breton, colleagues! The French philosopher Michel Foucault believed that knowledge and power are inextricably linked. If that is true – and I think it is – then we are all powerless in the digital age. Digital services and social media have left us in the dark. Every time we make a post online, buy an item or do a search, we pay. …

15 Dec

2021

EN Speech

Plans to undermine further fundamental rights in Poland, in particular regarding the standards of the European Convention of Human Rights and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (debate)

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Madam President, I would like to thank the Council for being here. I don’t actually want to be here. I think we’ve had this conversation over and over and over again during the last year and a bit, and the situation for Polish women is only getting worse. But imagine being a Polish doctor in a hospital with a woman between your hands knowing that you would be able to save her life, but that you da…

13 Dec

2021

EN Speech

Equality between women and men in the European Union in 2018-2020 (debate)

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Madam President, women’s rights are human rights, so can we not rest assured that women in our societies and in our families have equal opportunities and rights in the European Union today? With deep regret – but probably not to the great surprise of those of you listening – the answer is ‘no’. We have not yet achieved gender equality in our Union, because our societies are still based on patriarc…

10 Nov

2021

EN Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, I am enjoying the fact that I’m able to take this point of order by being here physically, but I am not enjoying the fact that Member States are reinstating security measures against COVID-19. I travelled here the day after the Danish Prime Minister said that we would look into reinstating the use of the COVID pass, for example, in Denmark. At the same time, we are now sitting elb…

20 Oct

2021

EN Speech

The first anniversary of the de facto abortion ban in Poland (debate)

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Madam President, equality is a fundamental value of the European Union, and equality starts with our right to decide over our own bodies. This Parliament debated the undermining of the rule of law in Poland, at length, yesterday. Our debate today and the debate yesterday are linked. Today, we debate the decision one year ago by the unconstitutional Constitutional Tribunal, which flies in the face …

19 Oct

2021

EN Speech

The Rule of law crisis in Poland and the primacy of EU law (debate)

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Mr President, Poland, like every Member State, is bound to guarantee that all its national courts are impartial and independent. We must note, however, that the Polish Constitutional Tribunal is no longer a court in the sense of a judicial body. Its decisions are more correctly to be understood as a Polish Government statement by a different channel. ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.…

5 Oct

2021

EN Speech

The Arctic: opportunities, concerns and security challenges (debate)

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Madam President, as a Dane I find it essential to ensure environmental protection, sustainable development and reduction of geopolitical military tensions in the Arctic. Unfortunately this Parliament has a history of overstepping our competences when it comes to the Arctic. We must not only accept but promote the voices of the people living in the Arctic to ensure that Arctic policy is made in and…

4 Oct

2021

EN Speech

The impact of intimate partner violence and custody rights on women and children (debate)

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Mr President, this report is especially important in light of the shadow pandemic following the COVID pandemic, where we’ve seen a massive rise in violence against women – just because they are women – across the EU. We must prevent intimate partner violence in all its forms. It’s not only a question of a black eye, a broken rib or a broken arm. Violence is often psychological before it becomes ph…

4 Oct

2021

EN Speech

Artificial intelligence in criminal law and its use by the police and judicial authorities in criminal matters (debate)

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Mr President, it’s not all algorithms or artificial intelligence that are problematic, but predictive profiling and risk assessment artificial intelligence and automated decision—making systems are weapons of mass destruction. They are as dangerous for our democracy as nuclear bombs are for living creatures and life. They will destroy the fundamental rights of each citizen to be equal before the l…

7 Jul

2021

EN Speech

Breaches of EU law and of the rights of LGBTIQ citizens in Hungary as a result of the adopted legal changes in the Hungarian Parliament - The outcome of 22 June hearings under Article 7(1) of the TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, our democracies are choking. Their oxygen is being withheld. Governments across Europe have their hands on the throats of journalists, judges and civil society. We are seeing the gradual dismantling but steep decline of fundamental rights, and not only in Hungary. Today we discuss a law against LGBTI persons adopted by the Hungarian Parliament, a clear breach of EU values. But also i…