When over a million Europeans speak with one voice, inequality becomes impossible to ignore.
Last month, the European Parliament responded to one of the largest acts of civic mobilisation in recent EU history.
By adopting its resolution on the European Citizens’ Initiative My Voice, My Choice, the European Parliament set out its position on the fundamental inequality that persists across the Union: access to safe abortion still depends on where a person lives.
More than 1.2 million citizens from 19 Member States used the EU’s strongest participatory democracy tool to demand action. With this vote, the European Parliament formally answered that call.
The resolution calls on the European Commission to establish a voluntary, solidarity-based and opt-in EU financial mechanism. This would enable participating Member States to provide abortion care to people who cannot access it in their home country, while respecting national competences and legal frameworks.
It also calls for this mechanism to be included in both the current and the next Multiannual Financial Framework, underlining that solidarity cannot be ad hoc and requires long-term, predictable support at EU level.
The need for action remains pressing. Across the European Union, an estimated 20 million women continue to face legal or practical barriers to safe and legal abortion, resulting in delayed care, forced travel abroad and avoidable health risks.
Member States with more accessible systems already receive patients from other countries. The proposed mechanism would help support national healthcare systems by covering the costs associated with cross-border care and by sharing responsibility more fairly across the Union.
Welcoming the vote, Abir Al-Sahlani MEP (Centerpartiet, SE) emphasised the democratic significance of the initiative and Parliament’s response.
“Citizens used Europe’s strongest democratic tool to say that access to abortion care cannot depend on borders. Parliament has now taken responsibility and set out its position. It has called on the Commission to act, through a voluntary and legally sound mechanism that supports Member States. In Europe in 2025, the right to decide over one’s own body must be protected as a matter of fundamental rights.”
With Parliament’s position now adopted, attention turns to the European Commission. Renew Europe will continue to press for a meaningful response to the Citizens’ Initiative ahead of the Commission’s expected decision in March 2026.