I was alone, in my room on the University of Columbia campus, in the land of the free, when I realised that my rights could be taken away from me overnight.
It was the summer of 2022, and the US Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v Wade, a precedent that had existed for nearly 50 years. It had protected a woman’s right to choose whether to continue with a pregnancy during the first three months. Since then, women in Arizona face a total ban on abortion after a 160-year-old law was revived. Politics in America are different, but we shouldn’t believe that women in Europe couldn’t also see their rights taken away.
Recently, due to the mobilisation of women in pro-abortion campaigns, there have been some major victories. My good friend, Sarah Duriex was among those fighting for the right to an abortion to be enshrined in the French constitution. This goal was finally realised in March this year, making France the first and only country in the world to protect women’s rights in this way.
However, across Europe, increasing populist parliaments are attacking abortion rights. In Poland, Malta, Italy, Croatia, our right to choose is being threatened. There are still 20 million women in the EU who lack access to safe abortion care. European far-right parties such as AfD in Germany, PiS in Poland, and Fratelli d’Italia in Italy rally firmly against reproductive rights.
That summer in 2022, we began imagining what we might do to inspire Europe-wide change. Despite the fact that women’s right to have an abortion is most widely accepted in Europe, with 80% saying it should be permitted, it is not consistently available or protected across the continent. Matters only got worse recently with Giorgia Meloni’s government pushing Italy back to “medieval times” by tabling legislation that gives anti-abortion activists a place in abortion clinics.
We discovered the European Citizens Initiative (ECI), which allows anyone to propose amendments to European law if they can gather the support of at least a million people across seven EU countries. This was the perfect tool with which to create a movement of people committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose.
We called the campaign, “My Voice, My Choice,” and, led by the Institute of 8th March, which I run in Slovenia, supporters quickly began to coalesce. One of the first to come on board was Marta Lempart, the founder of the All-Poland Women’s Strike, a remarkable campaigner for women’s rights in Poland, and part of the campaign that very recently won a small, but important victory for abortion rights in Poland. Soon, we had organisations from Ireland, Finland, Germany, Spain, Austria and Croatia join us. Today, more than seventy organisations across Europe have joined the movement.
On 10th April, the European Commission registered the My Voice, My Choice ECI, paving the way for us to begin the next phase of the process - gathering signatures. We aim to collect 1 million signatures over seven weeks. The collection of signatures will take place via multiple online and offline platforms including through our own My Voice, My Choice webpage, where the form of the EU Commission is embedded; across national events, protests, influencer operations, podcasts and live stream social media actions.
We are not seeking to dictate what individuals should do. Our campaign is about protecting the right of every woman in Europe to make the choice for themselves, and to be able, if they so choose, to access safe, affordable abortion services.
After all, the evidence shows us that restricting access to abortion does not stop it from happening, but it does stop it happening safely. Where abortion is not affordable, it creates a class divide in access. Those who have the means either pay privately, or travel to access the abortion services they need. Those without may put their own lives at risk by continuing with a pregnancy that threatens their health or may resort to illegal abortion providers.
I have been deeply moved and invigorated by the level of support that has already been expressed, and by the bravery of campaigners. In Poland, for example, a group of young women in their early twenties are standing for election to the European Parliament in June this year in a bid to ensure that there are representatives who can help see this law change through to completion.
I may have been alone when I realised how fragile our rights can be, but I am far from alone now as I stand alongside the hundreds of thousands of Europeans who are coming together to ensure that what happens to our bodies remains in our hands. Give your signature to the My Voice, My Choice ECI, and vote for supportive candidates in the European elections in June. Together, we can protect women’s rights.
