A/HRC/44/48/Add.1 receive adequate information and health education. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, there is a failure to protect girls and young women who have been victims of sexual abuse and are then forced to continue high-risk pregnancies and high-risk motherhoods with longlasting impacts on their physical and mental health. In that regard, the Special Rapporteur recommends enhancing efforts to address early pregnancies as a matter of priority, including through the implementation of the intersectoral policy for the prevention of child and adolescent pregnancy (2018–2025). 45. The Special Rapporteur recalls that violence against women and girls is a human rights protection issue as well as a public health concern, since it is directly associated with adverse consequences for the physical and mental health of the women and girls who are affected. In that regard, he welcomes the recently adopted 2018 Comprehensive Statutory Law for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women, which establishes a legal framework for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur was informed that this legal framework is not yet fully operational. He therefore recommends its full implementation, with the necessary budget and the participation of all the bodies and sectors involved, including the administration of justice, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Ministry of Health. 46. The Special Rapporteur shares the concerns of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, about information received that suggests that the budget for 2020 will reduce by 100 per cent the allocation for the implementation of the intersectoral policy for the prevention of pregnancy of girls and adolescents and by 84 per cent for implementation of the Comprehensive Statutory Law for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women. 22 He also agrees that, given the high levels of violence against women and teenage pregnancies in the country, should this decision be adopted, it would contribute to the violation of the human rights of women and girls. Sexual and reproductive health rights 47. The Special Rapporteur takes note of the national plan on sexual and reproductive health for the period 2017–2021, but remains concerned at the existing obstacles to the right to sexual and reproductive health, including the high rate of teenage pregnancies mentioned earlier; at the barriers to accessing abortion services; at insufficient access to modern methods of contraception and family planning; and at insufficient comprehensive sexual and reproductive education and the negative sociocultural patterns of adolescent sexuality and gender-based violence. Access to abortion services 48. The Special Rapporteur recalls that the right to sexual and reproductive health is a fundamental part of the right to health, which includes access to safe, legal abortion. Access to safe, legal abortion guarantees the dignity and autonomy of girls and women as elements of their sexual and reproductive health. If not provided, this has severe negative impacts on the health of girls and women. Those negative impacts are made worse in cases of unwanted pregnancies and forced motherhood as a result of sexual violence. 49. The Special Rapporteur deeply regrets that during his visit, the National Assembly voted not to decriminalize abortion in cases of rape. Such a decision disproportionately exposes girls and women to potential time in jail and to extreme mental suffering that may lead to suicide. The decision of the National Assembly goes against all modern public health principles and casts doubt on whether there is the political will to improve the health of women and girls. The Special Rapporteur also regrets that the competent authorities did not veto the decision. 50. The evidence shows that criminalizing abortion only leads to clandestine and unsafe practices and exposes women and girls to additional dangers, violence and stigma that negatively affect the full enjoyment of their right to health. This is a human rights protection issue and a public health concern that must be addressed without delay through 22 See preliminary observations and recommendation by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women on her visit to Ecuador from 29 November to 9 December 2019, available from www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25405&LangID=E. 11