The European Commission – the executive arm of the European Union (EU) – reported this Thursday (26) that the bloc’s countries will be able to use resources from the so-called European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) to pay for abortions where the procedure is legal and also finance the displacement of women who live in countries where the procedure is prohibited or restricted. The decision was announced in Brussels as a response to the European feminist movement “My Voice, My Choice”, which defends abortion.
According to the Commission, EU Member States can, if they wish, use existing ESF+ resources to “improve equal access to legally available and affordable health services, including safe abortion”. The commission stated that, for this reason, it does not consider it necessary to propose the creation of a new specific fund to finance abortions, as requested by the feminist movement.
According to Brussels, the bloc’s governments that decide to use the abortion fund will be able to cover both the cost of the procedure where it is legalized and the travel expenses of women who want to travel to another Member State to have an abortion. This applies, for example, to women living in countries with restricted abortion legislation, such as Poland, which allows the procedure only in cases of risk to the woman’s life or health and sexual abuse.
In addition to Poland, Malta, Hungary and Slovakia are other EU countries with laws that restrict abortion. In Malta, the procedure is only permitted when there is a risk to the woman’s life or serious danger to her health. In Hungary and Slovakia, abortion is legal within certain deadlines, but requires compliance with mandatory steps, such as prior counseling and a waiting period, which, in practice, imposes additional barriers to access.
