The Portuguese Parliament will decide on a draft law on ending forced sterilisation on the 18 December.
EDF advocates for a ban of forced sterilisation of persons with disabilities everywhere in Europe. All European countries, including Portugal, have this legal and moral obligation.
Persons with disabilities, independently of the type of disability or age, have a right to decide over their own bodies.
We strongly oppose any version of the proposed law that would shift decision-making power away from persons with disabilities to their legal guardians. The creation of safeguards such as needing a judicial decision, requiring medical reports and upholding a monitoring system will not be enough to stop forced sterilisation from happening. We ask for a complete ban on this practice. This is required by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence on combating violence against women. Portugal ratified both treaties.
It is imperative that the Portuguese Parliament passes a bill that criminalises forced sterilisation while upholding the rights of persons with disabilities to make decisions about their own bodies. Any legislation approved must be in line with the CRPD, and follow the recommendations of the Portuguese National Monitoring Mechanism for the Implementation of the UN CRPD, specifically Opinion No. 6/ME-CDPD/2025.
It must ensure only the person’s free and informed consent, through reasonable adaptations, and be fully in line with international human rights standards.
We call on Members of the Portuguese Parliament to reject any current and future amendments that would allow legal guardians, or anyone except the person concerned, to decide on sterilisation, independently of the attempt at safeguards it presents. Instead, ensure that the law guarantees full respect for the rights of persons with disabilities, particularly women and girls, to live with dignity, autonomy, and equality.
Portugal must put the human rights of women and girls with disabilities at the forefront of this law, and join the list of others who recently passed strong bans on forced sterilisation, such as Spain and Malta.