With 336 votes in favor, 163 against and 39 abstentions, the resolution was approved on Thursday – a milestone by which MEPs call for the right to abortion to be enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, a request they have expressed several times in the past.
MEPs condemn the backsliding on women’s rights and gender equality, as well as all attempts to limit or abolish existing measures to protect sexual and reproductive health and related rights seen worldwide, including in EU countries.
They request the amendment of article 3 of the Charter, so that it is stated henceforth that “every person has the right to self-determination of his body and to free, informed, full and universal access to sexual and reproductive health and related rights, as well as to all relevant health care services without discrimination, including access to safe and legal abortion’.
The text urges member states to fully decriminalize abortion in line with the 2022 WHO guidelines, as well as to remove and combat barriers to abortion. They specifically call on Poland and Malta to repeal their legislation that does not provide for this right, but also other measures that either prohibit or limit abortion. MEPs condemn the fact that, in some Member States, doctors (and in some cases entire medical institutions) refuse to perform abortions, based on a “conscience” clause, often in cases where any delay would endanger the life or health of the patient .
High quality education and care
Abortion methods and procedures should be a compulsory part of the curriculum for doctors and medical students, according to Parliament. Member States should ensure access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health services and related rights, including comprehensive and age-appropriate sexuality and relationship education. Accessible, safe and free contraceptive methods and supplies, as well as family planning advice, should be made available, with a particular focus on reaching vulnerable groups. Women in poverty are disproportionately affected by legal, economic, social and practical barriers and restrictions to abortion, MEPs say, calling on member states to remove these barriers.
End EU funding to anti-choice groups
MEPs are concerned about the significant increase in funding of anti-gender and anti-choice groups around the world, including in the EU. They are calling on the Commission to ensure that organizations operating in this direction do not receive EU funding .Also, member states and local governments must increase their spending on programs and subsidies for health care and family planning services.
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