A proposal to create a European Union fund to help women travel abroad for abortions has cleared its first major hurdle in the European Parliament.

On Wednesday, members of the Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality voted to support the creation of an EU fund that would cover travel expenses for women forced to seek abortion care in another country due to bans or severe restrictions at home.

The initiative comes from My Voice, My Choice, a pan-European feminist campaign that has collected more than 1.1 million verified signatures across all 27 EU member states. The proposed fund — which countries could join voluntarily — would primarily benefit women in Malta and Poland, where abortion is almost entirely prohibited, and in Italy and Slovenia, where many doctors refuse to perform the procedure on grounds of conscience.

The committee’s decision passed with 26 votes in favor and 12 against, marking the most tangible institutional progress in the EU’s ongoing debate on reproductive rights. The full Parliament is expected to vote on a non-binding resolution in December. Although such resolutions have no legal power, they signal political momentum and could influence the European Commission’s legislative agenda.

Support for the initiative largely falls along political lines. Socialists, liberals, and Greens are backing the proposal, while the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) remains divided. As the Parliament’s largest political group, the EPP’s stance will be crucial for the proposal’s future.

“The outcome of the vote in the committee today is proof that change is possible when political parties find a way to unite instead of fighting,” said EPP lawmaker Eleonora Meleti.

If approved by Parliament, the proposal will move to the European Commission, which must decide by March whether to propose binding legislation enabling such funding or to explain why it will not take action.

The vote follows previous non-binding resolutions in 2022 and 2024, adopted in response to the rollback of abortion rights in the United States. Those resolutions called for abortion to be added to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights — a move that would recognize access to abortion as a fundamental European value.

📖 Source: Euractiv – “EU fund to help finance abortion-related travel clears first hurdle”