The European Parliament calls for the inclusion of abortion in the fundamental rights of the EU

The hemicycle of the European Parliament, December 15, 2021. AFP - JULIEN WARNAND

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3 mins

In a vote, which comes after the US Supreme Court challenged abortion rights in the country, MEPs voted overwhelmingly to enshrine the right to abortion in the Bill of Rights fundamentals of the EU.

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Everyone has the right to benefit from a safe and legal abortion

 ."

It is with 324 votes for, 155 against and 38 abstentions that the vote of the European deputies ended this Thursday, July 7th.

Meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg, they asked the Council of the EU to include

the right to abortion

in the fundamental rights of the Union, a Charter adopted in 2000 which has the same legally binding value as the treaties.

The resolution condemns in particular the end of constitutional protections for abortion in the United States since

the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States

to reverse the historic decision Roe vs. Wade on June 24.

The U-turn has stoked fears that anti-abortion movements are growing in Europe, and that's why some lawmakers have said they want to see EU-wide protections enacted, our correspondent in Brussels reports,

Jean-Jacques Hery.

Although this vote is a first step towards amending the Charter, there is still a long way to go.

For this decision to be final, it must be validated unanimously by the 27 members of the European Council.

This initiative, acclaimed by many elected officials, is therefore doomed to failure since two countries oppose it: Malta and Poland.

This is why the parliamentarians also asked the Council to meet “

to discuss a convention allowing the treaties to be revised

” in order to

challenge the rule of unanimity

.

A subject that divides the member countries. 

"You have to be very careful"

But even if this initiative is futile, it is important to talk about it in order to raise awareness, according to Sylvie Guillaume, MEP for the Socialist Party:

"I read with great interest that in Malta, there was already things that were changing with younger elected representatives, from other generations, who are beginning to come forward on this issue and which will therefore, probably in the long term, cause the situation in Malta to change, as it must also be safeguarded in Poland, as it must also evolve in Ireland where there are threats that exist”.

See also 

Malta: the fight of activists to decriminalize abortion

"We must be very vigilant about what is tangible in terms of acquired rights and develop where rights do not exist and it is this challenge that is before us",

adds the MEP.

And to add:

“Because the younger generations will realize that indeed that when we do not advance, well unfortunately, these rights decline singularly when we speak of women

”. 

The position of the Maltese President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, known for her anti-abortion positions was therefore closely scrutinized.

Before the vote, however, she said her position “ 

was that of Parliament

 ”.

Without however pronouncing the word abortion, she declared that “

the regression of rights, everywhere in the world, is unacceptable”.

“In Strasbourg, the Parliament will take the firmest position on the subject.

I will drive that position and I will share

 it,” she added.

The proposal to include the right to abortion in the fundamental rights of the EU had already been raised by French President Emmanuel Macron when he took over the rotating presidency of the Union. 

To listen also:

Abortion, a fragile right for many European women

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  • Womens rights

  • European Union