WE WON

First reaction to the European Commission Decision from My Voice, My Choice coordinator Nika Kovač:

"Today is a victory for women in Europe. And today is a good day for European democracy.

When 1.2 million citizens raise their voices, when the European Parliament sends a clear democratic signal, and when civil society mobilises across borders, the European Commission cannot look away. It must act. And today, it has.

For the first time, the Commission confirms unequivocally that EU funds can be used to guarantee access to safe abortion care ー particularly for women in vulnerable situations, regardless of where they come from in Europe.

This is not symbolic. It is a political commitment to women's rights.

It establishes beyond doubt that access to safe abortion is a matter of public health and social justice, and that the European Union has both the competence and the responsibility to act.

The Commission concluded in today's decision that the best way to meet our initiative’s objective is through the ESF+ programme. While no new legal instrument is being created, the Commission has formally acknowledged that the core objectives of our initiative can be achieved and outlined a concrete pathway to implement it in practice.

The decision was presented to us in a meeting by Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib. She congratulated us and presented the Commission’s decisions as a clear yes to our demands. We are especially happy that the mechanism would be able to be used not just for funding of the medical services, but also the cost of travel in circumstances that would be needed. This is especially important in life threatening situations where urgent assistance and transportation is needed.

We conveyed our satisfaction with the positive reply and reiterated that our priority was always getting results for women, not the legal form. We expressed our disappointment that no promise of new allocation of financial resources was made at this time and urged the Commission to support additional dedicated funding in the future.

We also urged the Commission to make swift next steps to operationalise the decision: to provide clear instructions to member states on how to start providing safe abortion care with EU funds and that an information platform for patients must be created.

The door is now open. A pathway was created for Member States to use EU funding to ensure access to safe and legal abortion services for those who are still denied this fundamental right. Member states must now use the pathway that was created.

This decision sends a clear message: that women’s rights matter to the EU and that citizens democratic engagement can create change.

This victory belongs to the 1.2 million citizens who signed, to the activists who organised, to the volunteers who mobilised, and to the parliamentarians who stood firm.

And we dedicate this step forward to all the women who have suffered or lost their lives because access to urgent reproductive healthcare was denied.

Their stories remind us why this fight is not ideological - it is about protecting health and lives, it's about dignity, equality, and freedom.

This fight was about women having control over their own bodies and lives.

This fight was about Europe we want to live in. A Democratic, equal and just Europe we can be proud of."