"Everyone has a right to legal and safe abortion": By 324 votes (155 for, 38 abstentions), the MEPs gathered in Strasbourg on Thursday decided to ask the Council to inscribe this right in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of Europe Union.
This legally binding charter was adopted in 2000 and has the same legal value as the treaties. According to current EU treaties, abortion must be included in the fundamental rights.
This subject of society is what divides the Twenty Seven. MEPs asked the Council to "review a convention that would allow the treaties to change" to challenge the rule requiring unanimity.
The European Parliament has reacted strongly to this demand by condemning the "rollback in women's rights, sexual and reproductive health rights and rights in the United States" and other Member States. On June 24, the United States Supreme Court ended the federal legal guarantee for abortion in the entire country. All 50 US states now have the right to make decisions about abortion.
MEPs voted in support of their resolution that "EU countries should provide access to safe and legal abortion services, prenatal care services, contraception, voluntary family planning and contraception, as well as HIV prevention treatment, treatment, and support without discrimination."
Europe must lead by example and protect its female citizens.
Swedish Social Democrat MEP Helene Fritzon
Prior to the American Supreme Court's decision, the French President Emmanuel Macron (who was taking over the rotating presidency of EU) had in January requested that the Charter of Fundamental Rights include the right of abortion. The European Union. It is also being enshrined in the French Constitution by his political party and the current French government.
"Strong women’s rights are an asset, an essential characteristic of democracies (...) Going Back is not an option", said Helena Dalli (European Commissioner for Equality), during Monday's debate in Strasbourg's hemicycle.
"Let's give women in Europe the assurance that no judge can unravel these rights, and let us remind reactionaries of who they really are: A relic from the past which has not future in the European Union," Stephane Sejourne, the leader of the centrist and liberal deputies in the Renew group, said.
Polish Eurosceptic MEP Patryk Jaki, however, criticized the European Parliament for regularly denying the independence of Polish judges. "Do you really want to condemn the United States' use of the independence judge? (...) Your colleagues are inconsistent, he said.
