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.
” Everyone has the right to a safe and legal abortion “. It is with 324 votes for, 155 against and 38 abstentions that the vote of the MEPs ended on Thursday 7 July. 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 notably condemns the end of constitutional abortion protections in the United States since the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States to return on June 24th to the historic Roe vs. Wade stoppage. 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 to revise the treaties ” in order to calling into question 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 to change awareness, according to Sylvie Guillaume, MEP for the Socialist Party: “I read with great interest that in Malta, there were already things that were evolving with younger elected officials, from other generations, who are beginning to come forward on this issue and who will therefore, probably in the long term, to evolve the situation in Malta, as it must also be safeguarded in Poland, as it must also evolve in Ireland where there are threats that exist”.
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“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 when we don’t move forward, well unfortunately, these rights go back singularly when we talk about women “.
The position of the Maltese President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, known for her anti-abortion positions was therefore closely scrutinized. Prior to the vote, however, she said her position ” was that of Parliament “. Without however pronouncing the word abortion, she declared that ” the regression of rights, anywhere in the world, is unacceptable”. “In Strasbourg, the Parliament will take the firmest position on the subject. I’ll drive this position and I’ll 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.
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