‘Should women’s access to safe abortion depend on geography, wealth and luck?’
This is the question that the European Parliament will answer today as it votes on a proposal by ‘My Voice, My Choice’, a citizen-led campaign that has forced abortion access on the EU’s political agenda for the first time.
Spearheaded by a small group of activists and now backed by more than 1.1 million signatures, it calls for a financial mechanism that would cover abortion care across the continent.
From Poland to Malta, where the procedure is not legal in most cases, to Germany, Italy and Croatia, where they are routinely denied, more than 20 million women are in danger.
They are left to navigate unsafe delays, cross borders, or risk their lives to access healthcare.
Nika Kovač, a Slovenian activist and coordinator of the initiative, explained that the proposal is not looking to change national abortion laws, but aims to close a glaring – and deadly – gap in access.
She told Metro that the initiative ‘would safe lives’, adding: ‘We wanted to find a way that these women could travel to another country to access the medical procedure, which would then be covered by the European Union.
‘We proposed establishing a voluntary financial mechanism, which would make this happen.’
If approved, this means that a fund from the EU budget will cover abortions for people from nations with near-total bans.
‘Abortion is a class issue. Women who can afford it, will travel to private hospitals abroad,’ Kovač added.
‘Meanwhile, women from poorer backgrounds, who also do not have theknowledge and needed information, will not be able to do this.’
Despite constant death threats, attacks and intimidation duringcampaign rallies, she still believes that Europe is united when it comes to abortion rights.
While the trend in the continent has been towards more accessibility, with the UK decriminalising it and France making it a constitutional freedom, there has been an increase in support for far-right parties, many of which oppose abortion.
Proponents of the initiative, including abortion rights campaigners and some members of European Parliament (MEPs) from the left to centre-right, say it should reduce unsafe practices and help women lacking funds for a procedure abroad.
Thousands of women travel each year within Europe to get abortions, but the actual number remains unclear due to underreporting.
Dr Annika Kreitlow, gynecologist and board member of Doctors for Choice Germany, explained that many patients are forced to fly to the Netherlands, where they pay up to £1,000 for the procedure, because of lack of doctors and stigmatisation.
This is the case particularly in the southern, more conservative and rural regions.
Her practice is based in Berlin – where there is no shortage of physicians – and every year, she performs procedures for women who have travelled up to five hours from other parts of Germany.
Dr Kreitlow told Metro that she still has to deny abortion to a small portion of patient, who have passed the legal limit of 12 weeks.
She added: ‘It happens every now and then that a woman comes in for an abortion and in the ultrasound we then find out she already passed the limit of 12 weeks, in which an abortion would still be possible in Germany.
‘I then have to tell her that even though I am terribly sorry, there is nothing I can do for her as the German law does not allow me to perform an abortion.
‘Most times I am then met with disbelieve, anger, and a deep sense of “this is so unfair”. It breaks my heart every time as I really share this feeling of it being totally unfair and it makes me so angry that even though we would on a skill level be able to help her, we are just not allowed to do so.
‘I then have to tell her that really her only option is to leave the country and get an abortion somewhere else with better laws. Often times I then also feel really helpless in these situations, as there really is nothing I can do.’
The vote is due soon after midday in Strasbourg and analysts expect it to pass – though Kovač is keeping her expectations low.
The European Commission will then have until March to decide whether to adopt the proposal.
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