EUROPEAN LAWMAKERS HAVE taken a major step toward expanding access to safe and legal abortion across the EU, following a vote in the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality yesterday.

The committee adopted a report and draft resolution supporting the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘My Voice, My Choice: for safe and accessible abortion’, by 26 votes in favour and 12 against.

The campaign, backed by more than 1.2 million verified signatures from EU citizens, calls on the European Commission to establish an EU-level financial mechanism to help member states ensure safe abortion care.

The proposal would allow countries, on a voluntary basis, to provide access to abortion services for women who are unable to obtain them in their home state, including through cross-border arrangements.

The adopted text stresses that many women in the EU still face legal and practical barriers to abortion, and urges national governments to reform restrictive laws in line with international human rights standards.

It also reaffirms the EU’s role in promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights, including access to contraception, family planning and maternal healthcare.

The report voices “deep concern” about what MEPs described as a growing backlash against women’s rights and gender equality across Europe, condemning anti-gender movements that seek to undermine human rights protections.

“No woman should have to leave her country just to exercise her human rights,” said rapporteur Abir Al-Sahlani, a Swedish liberal MEP, after the vote.

“This is proof that when people mobilise, they can push Europe to deliver for equality and democracy.”

The committee’s decision clears the way for a plenary debate and vote in the full Parliament, expected in the coming months, where MEPs will formally decide whether to endorse the initiative.

A public hearing on My Voice, My Choice will take place on 2 December in the European Parliament.

‘A step forward’

Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh, who sits on the Gender Equality Committee, welcomed the result as “a step forward for women’s health and safety across Europe”.

While acknowledging that abortion remains a deeply sensitive issue, she said the initiative “does not seek to interfere with national laws”, but instead aims to ensure “safe, high-quality medical care for women where abortion is already happening”.

Walsh added that the financial mechanism proposed by campaigners would be voluntary, allowing member states to opt in.

“If a woman cannot safely access abortion care in her home country, she could receive that care in another EU state with EU funding support,” she said.