Quote:The “My Voice, My Choice” campaign offers the people of Europe the chance to make women's lives freer, safer, and better; wherever they live in our union, whatever conditions they may find themselves in.

The lack of access to abortion in many parts of Europe not only puts women at risk of physical harm but also puts undue economic and mental stress on women and families, often on the margins of society that can afford it the least.

It has been well documented that treating reproductive care as a luxury does not reduce abortions, it simply drives women to seek unsafe abortions.

To change this we are asking the European Commission to - in the spirit of solidarity - submit a proposal for financial support to Member States that would be able to perform safe termination of pregnancies for anyone in Europe who still lacks access to safe and legal abortion.

Countless lives and livelihoods are ended, disrupted, and lost because of lack of access to safe abortion. This must stop. With this European Citizens' Initiative, we will move to a more just policy that expresses our European values more compassionately and concretely.

Quote:Some devastating facts about abortion rights in Europe:

• Polish abortion laws lay out that the rights of a foetus are more important than those of pregnant persons.
  
• In Malta, women are sent to prison if they get an abortion.
  
• In Austria, abortion is written into criminal code - this means it is considered a crime if it is not carried out as by the law. Doctors in Austria use papayas to learn how to perform an abortion.
  
• Women in Hungary are forced by the law to listen to “the foetal heartbeat” before they can have an abortion.
  
• The current law governing abortions in Germany was accepted during the Nazi regime. It is still referred to as “the Nazi law” by some movements.
  
• In Italy, 80% of doctors refuse to perform an abortion. Plus, the government is financing movements that enter abortion clinics and harrass women who want to get an abortion.
  

Quote:The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) brings together the women’s movement in Europe to influence the general public and European Institutions in support of women’s human rights and equality between women and men.

We are the largest European umbrella network of women’s associations representing a total of more than 2000 organisations in 26 EU Member States, four Candidate Countries, one former EU Member State and one European Free Trade Association country, as well as 17 European-wide organisations representing the diversity of women and girls in Europe. EWL envisions a society in which women’s contribution to all aspects of life is recognised, rewarded and celebrated - in leadership, in care and in production; all women have self-confidence, freedom of choice, and freedom from violence and exploitation; and no woman or girl is left behind.