EU says social fund can be used to allow access to safe abortions across bloc

By Layli Foroudi

BRUSSELS, Feb 26 (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Thursday member states may use an existing EU social fund to terminate pregnancies free of charge for women visiting from EU nations that restrict access to safe abortions, a significant policy clarification amid divisive debates on abortion rights.

The EU’s executive body was responding to women’s rights campaign “My Voice, My Choice”, which advocated for the creation of an EU-funded instrument to assist women seeking abortion procedures abroad due to restrictive policies at home.

Countries such as Malta and Poland have near-total bans in place and in countries like Italy and Croatia abortions are hard to access.

Although the Commission stopped short of endorsing a new funding mechanism, it said member states may use or reallocate resources from an existing fund  to ensure access to safe abortions for women.

“For the first time, the Commission confirms unequivocally that EU funds can be used to guarantee access to safe abortion care ー particularly for women in vulnerable situations, regardless of where they come from in Europe,” said Nika Kovac, coordinator for the campaign.

Supporters of the citizens’ initiative, which garnered more than a million signatures and compelled the Commission to take a position, argued that women across the 27-member state bloc should have the same access to legal, safe abortions.

Critics, including some far-right political parties and conservative lawmakers, said the proposal impinged on the rights of countries to set their own health policies, went against traditional Christian values and risked promoting ‘abortion tourism’.

While the trend in Europe has been towards more accessibility for abortions, with the UK decriminalising abortion in 2025 and France making it a constitutional right in 2024, the continent has witnessed a surge in popular support for far-right parties, many of which oppose abortion.

This is the twelfth European Citizens’ Initiative that the Commission has responded to since the mechanism was launched in 2012. Previous initiatives have not been fully adopted, which has led to criticism of the mechanism’s effectiveness. 

When an initiative gathers a million signatures of support, the Commission must issue a formal written response. 

(Reporting by Layli Foroudi; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten, editing by Andrei Khalip)