You have the right to maintain your reproductive and sexual health at the highest attainable standard and make any decisions related to it freely. Your reproductive rights are a part of the human right to health and the right to a private life.
What is reproductive and sexual health?
In Moldova, the Reproductive health law defines reproductive health as a state of physical, mental and social well-being concerning all aspects related to the reproductive system in all stages of the human life cycle. The same law defines sexual health as the physical, emotional, mental and social well-being related to human sexuality, which consists not only in the absence of any illness, disfunction or infirmity. Sexual health implies a positive approach and is based on the respect of sexuality and of sexual relation, as well as the possibility to have safe sexual experiences, without coercion, discrimination and violence. To protect your reproductive and sexual health and any decisions made in this area, reproductive rights include access to information about reproductive and sexual health and access to sexual and reproductive health care as provided by law.
What are reproductive rights?
Reproductive rights encompass the following aspects:
- your right to be informed about the state of your reproductive and sexual health
- your right to make any decisions related to your reproductive and sexual health freely
- your right to equally access and receive necessary reproductive and sexual health care, including medical assistance during pregnancy and child birth, as well as in the termination of pregnancy and sterilisation
- your right to artificial reproduction
- your right to donate your sperm or ovum
- your right to medical data protection
Restrictions on your reproductive rights interfere with the human right to a private life and/or the human right to health, but such interference will not always result in a violation of these rights.
Reproductive rights & Human rights
Your reproductive and sexual health, as well as any decisions you may wish to take in that regard, are closely linked to your private life. The right to make decisions about your body and health is an aspect of your personal autonomy or physical integrity. Respect for a private life also includes the right to establish and to develop relationships with others, especially in the emotional and sexual field. This can be linked further to your right to choose whether to become a parent or not.
About this section
In this section, you can learn about different aspects of human rights related to your reproductive and sexual health and the kind of protection which is guaranteed by reproductive rights.