The European Parliament has chosen to be on the side of rights. With a large majority, the European Chamber expressed its support for the initiative My Voice, My Choice, the campaign that calls for guaranteeing access to abortion safe, legal and free in all EU countries.
My Voice, My Choice is a European Citizens’ Initiative (ICE), the tool that allows citizens to officially ask the European Union to intervene on a specific topic. In just a few months it exceeded the million signatures needed across Europe, forcing the institutions to take a stand. The vote in plenary ended with 358 yes, 202 no and 79 abstentions.
Read also: Green light for pharmacological abortion in clinics and at home: Sardinia leads the way in Southern Italy
What Parliament is asking for
The approved text now invites the European Commission to create a voluntary funding mechanism, open to Member States who choose to join and supported by the European Union budget.
In this way we want to allow the participating countries to guarantee access to voluntary termination of pregnancy in safe conditions, in compliance with national laws, to those who cannot currently benefit from a legal and safe abortion in their own country. Essentially, women from countries that restrict abortion can terminate their pregnancies for free in another member state (My Voice, My Choice proposes a fund from the EU budget to finance procedures for people from countries with near-total bans, such as Malta and Poland, or from places where it is difficult to access voluntary termination of pregnancy, such as Italy and Croatia).
The ball is now in the European Commission’s court, which will have until March 2026 to clarify if and how it intends to intervene, through legislative measures or other concrete actions.
According to the promoting organizations – including the Slovenian 8 March Institute, the Polish, French and Spanish feminist collectives, Amnesty International, Arci and pro-choice networks – around 20 million women in Europe still live in countries where access to abortion is severely limited or effectively denied.
The proposed mechanism aims to fill these inequalities: in practice, if a State with strong restrictions on IVG decided not to join the fund, women living in that country could still receive a financial support to travel to a participating Member State and access the necessary care.
A step that does not erase the differences between national legislation, but which recognizes an uncomfortable truth: the right to self-determination cannot depend on the place where one is born or lives.
The vote of Italian MEPs
However, the vote highlighted deep fractures. According to data released by the European Parliament, the MEPs of the Brothers of Italy voted unanimously against it, as did the majority of the League.
In Forza Italia the picture appeared more fragmented: some MEPs, such as Flavio Tosi, Giusi Princi and Caterina Chinnici, voted in favour; others, like Massimiliano Salini, against; Letizia Moratti abstained. On the progressive front, the Democratic Party voted unanimously in favor together with the 5 Star Movement, Green Europe and the Green and Left Alliance. Here too there were no shortage of technical problems: Lucia Annunziata was initially among those against, but due to an error during the voting phase.
A vote that goes beyond numbers and tells of a still fragile reality: while Europe recognizes fundamental rights, in many countries – including Italy – access to safe abortion remains an obstacle course. And it is precisely here that the greatest challenge arises: transforming words and resolutions into truly enforceable rights in the daily lives of women.
