Image: FEMM Committee logo
The European Commission has now issued its official response to the European Citizens’ Initiative “My Voice My Choice”, driven by more than 1.2 million people across Europe.
While no new dedicated fund has been created, the Commission has taken an important political step. It formally clarified that existing EU funds, in particular the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), can be used by Member States to support access to abortion care, including covering travel and accommodation costs for those forced to seek care abroad.
For the first time, access to abortion has been explicitly recognised within the scope of EU funding instruments. This opens a concrete possibility that did not exist before.
This result is rooted in sustained civic mobilisation all across Europe. Over more than two years, thousands of volunteers organised events, collected signatures, and brought the issue into the public debate, showing that participatory democracy at European level can lead to tangible outcomes.
In the months leading up to the Commission’s response, the initiative also gained significant institutional support. A public hearing in the European Parliament on 2 December 2025 enabled a direct exchange between the citizens’ committee and Members of the European Parliament. Shortly afterwards, on 17 December, the Parliament adopted a resolution presented by the Femm Committee in support of the initiative, an important political signal.
The next phase now shifts to Member States, which will decide whether and how to use these tools. The focus of the campaign is therefore moving towards implementation and for political pressure on supportive policies at national level.
Letter from Alice Spaccini alice.spaccini@associazionelucacoscioni.it, 28 February 2026.