An Attack on the Protection of Life in Europe: The European Parliament Has Endorsed the “My Voice, My Choice” Initiative

On Wednesday, December 17, a vote was held, during which the European Parliament backed the European Citizens’ Initiative “My Voice, My Choice,” whose aim is to increase access to abortion in the European Union by establishing a voluntary “financial solidarity mechanism” co-funded by the EU. This mechanism would allow funding for so-called “safe and legal abortions” for women from countries where national laws protecting human life from conception are in effect.

In the adopted resolution, in point D Members of the European Parliament state that “access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including safe, universally accessible and legal abortion care, constitutes a fundamental right” and elsewhere point out that in many Member States there are still “legal and practical barriers to abortion,” which, in their view, needs to be changed “to bring [abortion laws] into line with international human rights standards.” Parliament calls on those countries to amend national regulations and underlines the European Union’s role in promoting so-called sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including access to abortion. Before the debate and vote, the Ordo Iuris Institute submitted a memorandum to MEPs calling for the initiative to be rejected.

“The Commission should not have allowed a proposal in an area they don’t have competence in, such as abortion, especially when it requires financial aid to overcome national laws,” said Margarita de la Pisa Carrión (Vox, Spain) of the Patriots for Europe group.

“All I want for Christmas is for this vote to pass tomorrow,” said Terry Reintke (Die Grüne, Germany) of the Greens group.

The EU Commissioner for Equality, Belgium’s Hadja Lahbib, informed Members of the European Parliament that the European Commission had assessed that “providing financial support for member states’ actions that promote health could fall under the EU supportive competence.”

“Any proposal must respect the fact that health policy and the organization and delivery of health services are competences of member states,” she noted.

She added, however, that this initiative “does not seek to interfere with national laws on abortion.”

The resolution was adopted by 358 votes to 202, with 79 abstentions. Although the document is not legally binding, it sends a political signal to the European Commission which, in accordance with the European Citizens’ Initiative procedure, is required to respond to it by March 2026, indicating any potential further legislative or non-legislative measures.

After the vote, rapporteur Abir Al-Sahlani, a Swedish MEP from the Renew Europe group, said: “This vote is a huge win for every woman in Europe. The EU has finally shown that sexual and reproductive healthcare is a basic human right. The citizens of the EU raised their voices and showed they care about women’s lives, health, and rights. And the European Parliament delivered. This initiative shows what is possible when citizens and institutions join forces. This is what democracy is about.”

Before the plenary debate and the earlier public hearing of the initiative, which took place on December 2, 2025, at the European Parliament, the Ordo Iuris Institute provided Members of the European Parliament with a detailed memorandum. This memorandum highlighted the European Union’s lack of competence to regulate abortion, the incompatibility of the proposed mechanism with the principle of subsidiarity, and the risk of circumventing national constitutional orders through financial instruments. Ordo Iuris called on Members of the European Parliament to vote against the resolution.

The vote revealed a clear ideological divide among the political groups: centrist and center-left/liberal groups overwhelmingly supported the text—Renew Europe, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), The Left, and the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) voted in favor almost unanimously, and the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) also contributed a significant share of the support. By contrast, right-wing and sovereigntist groups opposed the resolution: the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN), Patriots for Europe (PF), and most Non-attached Members (NI) voted almost unanimously against. There were relatively few abstentions, mainly from PPE, PF, ECR, and NI.

Polish MEPs voted along party and group lines, reflecting the national political divide. MEPs from Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition and their PSL coalition partner, both sitting in the EPP group, mostly supported the resolution (including Ewa Kopacz, Janusz Lewandowski, Elżbieta Łukacijewska, and Róża Thun), as did Robert Biedroń and other Polish members of The Left in S&D, as well as self-claimed moderate conservative Poland 2050 representatives in Renew. Law and Justice MEPs in the ECR group (including Adam Bielan, Joachim Brudziński, Waldemar Buda, Beata Szydło, and Anna Zalewska) were firmly opposed to the resolution, as was the majority of the more right-wing Confederation—both in the ESN group (including Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik) and in PF (including Anna Bryłka).

“The European Parliament is once again trying to expand the EU’s powers in an area that, according to the treaties, remains the exclusive domain of the member states. The ‘My Voice, My Choice’ resolution is not an act of solidarity but political pressure aimed at circumventing national laws that protect life from conception to natural death,” notes Julia Książek of the Ordo Iuris Center for International Law.

Read also:

• Does the EU want to fund the killing of unborn Poles?
• Taxpayer-Funded Abortion Across the EU? The “My Voice, My Choice” Project and Brussels’ Ideological Offensive
• European Parliament Debates Institutional Taxpayer-Funded Abortion Tourism Across EU in New Attack on National Sovereignty
• European Parliament Condemns Surrogacy but Calls Lack of Abortion Access a Form of Violence