Women from countries with near-total bans on terminations will be given help to access services elsewhere
EU states will be able to tap into a social fund to help citizens access safe abortions, in an announcement hailed as a “victory for women”.
The roots of Thursday’s announcement go back to a long campaign for the European Commission to create a funding mechanism that would allow women from countries with near-total bans on abortion, such as Malta and Poland, to go where it is legal.
At the heart of the My Voice, My Choice campaign was the assertion that women across the 27 member states should have equal access to legal, safe abortions.
More than 1.2 million people signed up to the initiative, forcing the commission to reply. The proposal was backed by a majority of MEPs in December.
