Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1542182
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 DECEMBER 2025 ANALYSIS European Parliament's abortion vote lays While the European Parliament's decision to back a voluntary abortion access fund will not change Maltese European positions on reproductive rights THE European Parliament's vote to sup- port the creation of an EU fund facilitat- ing access to abortion care was widely de- scribed as historic. THE plan would establish a voluntary, opt-in financial mechanism to help mem- ber states provide abortion care to wom- en who can't access it in their own coun- try and who choose to travel to one with more liberal laws. The motion followed a grassroots campaign called My Voice, My Choice: For Safe And Accessible Abortion that was part of a European citizens initia- tive, which collected signatures from all member states, including Malta. The question before MEPs was not whether abortion should be legal in their own countries, which is already the case in all EU member states except Malta and to an extent Poland. Rather, it was whether safe access to abortion should be recognised as a right irrespective of where a woman resides within the European Union. This distinction matters. Health poli- cy remains a national competence, and the resolution did not seek to harmo- nise abortion laws or override domes- tic legislation. Instead, it focused on whether the EU could support access to care across borders, including through financial assistance for women who travel because services are unavailable at home. For Malta, where abortion remains al- most entirely prohibited, the vote did not compel legislative change. But the outcome sends a strong message of sol- idarity towards Maltese women who do not have access to safe and legal abor- tion services at home. That framing also shaped how dif- ferent political groups approached the vote. In technical terms, it allowed MEPs—particularly within the Euro- pean People's Party (EPP)—to justify opposing the resolution on grounds of subsidiarity and national competence, rather than having to take a position on the substance of abortion rights. In line with this, Malta's EPP MEP Peter Agius sponsored an alternative text ex- plicitly emphasising that sexual and re- productive rights should remain under the authority of member states. Yet, a relative majority of EPP MEPs still opt- ed to support the resolution, signaling a willingness to back the principle of safe access across borders. PN's own allies supported resolution In fact, the clearest signal that support for universal access to safe abortion is upheld by the EU mainstream, emerged from within the EPP. The group was al- most evenly split: 71 MEPs (43%) vot- ed in favour of the resolution, while 68 (41%) voted against. This division di- rectly challenges the assumption, still prevalent in Malta, that opposition to abortion is a defining feature of cen- tre-right politics. A look at national voting patterns within the EPP further weakens that assumption. All Irish MEPs—including those from Fine Gael, the EPP-affiliat- ed governing party—voted in favour of the resolution. Donald Tusk's Civic Platform MEPs also supported the res- olution as did all Greek and Cypriot centre-right MEPs. These votes under- line how centre-right parties elsewhere have accepted the principle of access to reproductive healthcare without aban- doning their ideological identity. JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Spanish S&D MEP Lina Galvez (right) embracing European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib in the European Parliament after a non-binding resolution to facilitate access to abortion PN MEP Peter Agius sponsored an alternative text explicitly emphasising that sexual and reproductive rights should remain under the authority of member states. (Photo: Laurie Dieffembacq/EP)