My Voice, My Choice ECI Holds Historic Hearing in the European Parliament

Today, the European Parliament hosted the official hearing for My Voice, My Choice, the European Citizens’ Initiative demanding safe and accessible abortion for all women in the EU.

At the heart of our initiative is a concrete proposal: a European financial mechanism supporting member states in providing free abortion care to women without access in their own country — without interfering with national laws.

Campaign coordinator Nika Kovač opened the hearing with a powerful testimony:

“In some EU countries, laws and practices send women a devastating message: that their lives are not worth protecting. This is happening here, now, inside the European Union. No woman should fear being abandoned when she needs help the most. No woman should risk her life because healthcare has been replaced by politics.”

She shared stories of Polish women who died due to denied abortion care, and Mirela from Croatia, who needed an urgent abortion to save her life but had to travel to Slovenia despite having a legal right in Croatia.

“These stories are not isolated,” Nika Kovač said. “They are symptoms of a system that tells women: your life does not come first.”

But we are far from done. After the plenary vote in Strasbourg on 17 December, the European Commission will decide whether to implement the initiative’s demands. The Commission has reiterated that these demands are within EU competences, with a decision expected in early March 2026.