NoIt is not a binding law, but it is a strong political signal. The European Parliament passed a resolution recognizing theaccess to safe abortion as an integral part of women’s sexual and reproductive rights across the Union. A text that comes after years of debate, profound inequalities between member countries and an unprecedented mobilization of European civil society. The resolution, adopted on December 17, 2025 with 358 votes in favour, 202 against and 79 abstentionsrepresents the political follow-up to the European Citizens’ Initiative “My Voice, My Choice: for safe and accessible abortion”supported by over a million signatures.
A European solidarity mechanism
The heart of the resolution is the request to European Commission to establish a voluntary solidarity financial mechanismsupported by EU funds. The aim is to enable the member states that join it to guarantee access to pregnancy termination to women who, in their own country, are unable to access itwhile respecting national regulations.
It is not, therefore, a question of imposing a single legislation on abortion, but of reduce concrete inequalities that exist today among European women: inequalities linked to the place of birth, economic resources, the possibility of moving or not.
What is “My Voice, My Choice”
The initiative was born as European Citizens’ Initiative (ICE)a participatory democracy tool that allows citizens of the Union to ask the Commission to evaluate new legislative proposals, provided they collect at least one million signatures in seven Member States. “My Voice, My Choice” has exceeded this threshold, collecting 1,124,513 verified memberships. Officially presented to the Commission on September 1, 2025was discussed in a public hearing in the European Parliament on December 2, 2025. The resolution approved now represents the most important political recognition.
Because the European Parliament intervened
In the approved text, the MEPs express concern about persistent legal and practical obstacles which in many countries continue to limit access to safe and legal abortion. Obstacles that don’t
they concern only the laws, but also the lack of structures, widespread conscientious objection, the lack of information and accessible services.
For this reason, Parliament invites Member States to align its regulations with international human rights standardsreaffirming the Union’s role in supporting sexual and reproductive health.
Not just abortion: a broader vision of rights
The resolution is not limited to the issue of pregnancy termination. It calls for more incisive European action to guarantee 5 fundamental points for European women:
- women’s bodily autonomy,
- universal access to contraception,
- complete information on family planning,
- adequate maternal care,
- safe and legal abortion services.
The text also condemns the regression of women’s rights and gender equalityhighlighting the growth of anti-gender movements and attacks on human rights defenders, in Europe and around the world.
«A huge victory for women»
For the promoters of the initiative, the vote represents a symbolic and political moment of great importance. The rapporteur of the resolution, Abir Al-Sahlani (Renew, Sweden)spoke of “a huge victory for every woman in Europe”, stating that the Union has finally recognized sexual and reproductive health care as a fundamental human right. A result which, according to Al-Sahlani, demonstrates what can happen when citizens and institutions work together: a concrete example of European democracy.
The next step: the Commission
Now the word passes to European Commissionwho will have time until March 2026 to indicate whether and what measures – legislative or non-legislative – it intends to adopt in response to the Citizens’ Initiative and Parliament’s resolution. It’s not a law yet. But it is a step that changes the political framework: For the first time, access to safe abortion is addressed openly as a question of rights, health and equalitynot as an exclusively national or ideological theme. And this, in Europe, marks a point of no return.