How can existing EU funds support abortion access following @ec.europa.eu’s response to the #MyVoiceMyChoice initiative? Clear operational guidance will be key to turning this pathway into meaningful support in practice.
We joined more than 140 organisations in providing feedback on the @ec.europa.eu’s new Global Health Resilience Initiative. Alongside other stakeholders, we are calling for #SRHR to be integrated as a central component of resilient health systems and crisis preparedness.
In a historic milestone, the UK Parliament has officially voted to decriminalise women who end their own pregnancies in England & Wales and pardon those previously convicted. The new law is expected to take effect in the coming weeks. Seeking reproductive healthcare should never be a crime.
Across Europe, countries are taking steps to improve access to abortion care. In Spain, a court in Madrid has ordered the creation of a registry of doctors who refuse to provide abortion care, aiming to help ensure services are more accessible for all women.
Spain’s government has approved a proposal to enshrine abortion in the constitution, reflecting growing efforts across Europe to strengthen legal protections for reproductive rights, including recent reforms in France and Luxembourg.
On #InternationalRomaDay we especially honor Roma women and girls fighting anti-Romani racism, sexism and exclusion. Across Europe, Romani women and girls still face discrimination and barriers to reproductive healthcare. Governments must end these violations and ensure reproductive justice for all.
In a new publication on women’s health in Europe, Vice President for Europe Leah Hoctor highlights how the promise of sexual and reproductive health and rights remains unfulfilled for millions across Europe. This moment calls for courage and action to ensure progress on SRHR continues.
Between the 1960s and 1990s, thousands of women and girls from Greenland were fitted with IUDs without their consent. Following Denmark’s apology last year, the focus now turns to compensation, accountability and justice for survivors.
According to local reporting, Italy’s latest annual report on the implementation of abortion law 194 is now long overdue, despite a requirement. Without timely and transparent information, it becomes far harder to monitor barriers to care and ensure access to abortion in practice.
The EU’s new Gender Equality Strategy acknowledges ongoing gaps in sexual and reproductive health and rights. Now concrete action from the Commission is essential to improve access to contraception, abortion care and other essential health services across the block.
The Council of Europe @coe.int has called on Poland to urgently guarantee effective access to lawful abortion care. Women in Poland continue to face significant barriers to accessing abortion due to the near total ban and serious legal barriers.
Luxembourg recently voted to enshrine the freedom to have an abortion in its constitution, becoming the second country in the world to do so after France in 2024. Similar efforts to constitutionally protect reproductive rights are currently under discussion in several other European countries.
The UK House of Lords voted to fully decriminalise women who access abortion care outside legal pathways in England and Wales, paving the way for long-overdue reform. Women should never be treated as criminals when they need reproductive healthcare.
On International Women’s Day, the Center for Reproductive Rights Europe took stock of progress on abortion rights across the region. Despite important and continued progress, women still face legal and practical barriers to accessing essential care.
The European Parliament has backed a call for EU countries to ensure affordable, secure access to contraceptive and abortion-related medicines under the Critical Medicines Act. We urge lawmakers to ensure this commitment is retained in the final text.
Jersey is considering abortion law reform that would remove the requirement to prove distress and extend access without special justification up to 22 weeks. This aligns with @who.int guidance, which calls for removing regulatory barriers that delay abortion care.
The EU Commission has set out a pathway to support abortion access following the #MyVoiceMyChoice European Citizens’ Initiative, clarifying for the first time that existing EU funds may be used to address barriers to care. Clear operational guidance is now needed to turn this into real access.
In Europe, demographic decline is increasingly invoked to justify rolling back abortion entitlements. A new report from @unfpa.org warns that simplistic or coercive responses to falling birth rates are ineffective and risk violating human rights. Real solutions centre reproductive agency.
In the last four years, Russia’s full-scale invasion of #Ukraine has killed thousands and displaced millions. Barriers to critical sexual and reproductive healthcare persist both in Ukraine and for many refugees across the EU, further compounding their trauma.
The expansion of the Global Gag Rule will have far-reaching consequences for access to essential health services worldwide. In Europe, it directly affects civil society and health systems, underscoring the EU’s responsibility to protect sexual and reproductive health and rights.
In just a few weeks, @ec.europa.eu will issue its decision on the #MyVoiceMyChoice European Citizens’ Initiative, which calls for measures to support safe & accessible abortion across the EU. We are proud to support this important initiative.
📣 Call for input: @who.int is seeking grey literature and expert contributions on how abortion care information is included in comprehensive sex education for young people, with input welcomed from across regions and contexts.
Proud to have led this joint effort calling on @ec.europa.eu to act on the #MyVoiceMyChoice European Citizens’ Initiative to ensure safe & accessible abortion across the EU. The Commission has the legal competence, democratic mandate and responsibility to act.
More than 1 million citizens. A majority of the European Parliament. And now, civil society across the EU.
The message is clear: @ec.europa.eu must act on #MyVoiceMyChoice and propose a voluntary EU-level financial mechanism to support access to safe, legal abortion care.
@vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu
📣 Civil society groups from across the EU are calling on @ec.europa.eu to act on the #MyVoiceMyChoice ECI.
The ask is clear: a voluntary EU-level financial mechanism that supports access to safe, legal abortion care.
@vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu @roxanaminzatu.bsky.social @hadjalahbib.bsky.social
🆕 research examines @echr.coe.int cases on denied access to sexual and reproductive health services since 1976. The analysis shows that recurring human rights violations have contributed to persistent gaps between legal protections and effective access to care across Europe.
Encouraging news from #Malta, one of the few European countries with highly restrictive #abortion laws, reflecting growing recognition of the harm caused by penalising women who seek essential healthcare. Ultimately, the @who.int recommends the full decriminalisation of abortion.
For an in-depth analysis of abortion laws across Europe, see our report ‘Europe Abortion Laws 2025: Policies, Progress and Challenges’, which examines current policies, progress and remaining challenges 👇
📜 Constitutional protection of abortion rights:
Following France’s landmark 2024 decision to constitutionally protect abortion access, similar initiatives are being debated or advanced in #Luxembourg, #Spain and #Sweden.
#Abortion reforms completed in 2025 (Pt.2):
✅ #Luxembourg: Abolished the mandatory 3-day waiting period.
✅ #Faroe Islands: Legalised abortion on request up to 12 weeks, ending one of Europe’s restrictive laws.
✅ #Switzerland: Made abortion care fully free of charge.