Image – Shutterstock: European Parliament, Brussels
The European Parliament has voted to back the creation of an EU-funded mechanism to expand access to abortion across the bloc, a move that has alarmed pro-life voices and raised serious questions about national sovereignty, democratic accountability, and the European Union’s true intentions.
By 358 votes to 202, with 79 abstentions, MEPs endorsed a European citizens’ initiative known as My Voice, My Choice, which calls for a voluntary, opt-in financial scheme to support women who travel from countries with restrictive abortion laws to those with more liberal regimes. Although abortion policy officially lies outside the EU’s competence, supporters argue that funding cross-border abortion access can be justified under the Union’s supportive role in health policy.
The initiative, launched in April 2024, gathered more than 1.2 million signatures across at least seven member states, meeting the threshold required to trigger parliamentary consideration. Its advocates hailed the vote as historic. Abir Al-Sahlani, the Swedish MEP who acted as rapporteur, described it as a “huge win for every woman in Europe”, while campaigners insisted it showed that abortion is a basic human right and that the EU must act where national laws fall short.
Yet critics see something very different. Conservative and Christian MEPs warned that the Parliament was overreaching into an area explicitly reserved to member states. The European Conservatives and Reformists group said the proposal would “massively undermine our national democracies”, while others accused the EU of using financial pressure to bypass domestic laws it dislikes. Dutch MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen warned that the scheme would effectively subsidise “abortion tourism” and called on Europeans to protect unborn life rather than facilitate its destruction.
The vote exposed deep divisions, including within national delegations. In Malta, where abortion remains highly restricted, several MEPs voted against or abstained, reflecting unease about the EU encouraging women to circumvent national law. The Parliament’s largest group, the European People’s Party, was also split, allowing the resolution to pass.
Although it is not obliged to act, the European Commission is now under pressure to respond by March 2026. Whatever it decides, this vote is worrying. It signals a growing willingness among EU institutions to promote abortion across borders, even where citizens and their parliaments have chosen to protect unborn life.
Michael Robinson, SPUC’s Executive Director, says of the vote, “Across the West the pro-abortion elite are grappling at straws, trying everything they can to enshrine abortion in law before the population turns against them. The European Union have today given their support to something that should be outside of their power, completely undermining the nations, like Poland or Malta, who are famed for protecting unborn life. European institutions should encourage nations who want to preserve the first and most basic right, the right to life, instead of penalising them.”
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