By José Antonio Moreno Díaz

Women's right to abortion in safe, decent conditions and in a calm, trustworthy environment has long been the subject of debate and continues to be so today.

It would be a mistake to try and link this right and the peaceful, safe exercise thereof to moral issues or religious or ethical beliefs that are completely outside the scope of the debate.

The issue being debated is the freedom and autonomy that women should have over their own bodies – their privacy and personal autonomy and their sexual and reproductive freedom. This is clearly part of their personal dignity as human beings.

The exercise of this right also involves health issues and the personal health of the women concerned.

Therefore, the right to abortion and the right to the genuine, free, safe exercise of abortion should be considered a fundamental right, as already recognised in some EU countries, and included in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.

In this regard, the situation varies across the EU, where some Member States completely prohibit abortion (even criminalising it) while others severely limit this right through very restrictive regulatory frameworks on the basis of time limits or other criteria. Other countries recognise the right but it is extremely difficult to exercise due to organisational or functional problems with health and/or administrative services. In other countries, access is free without restrictions.

The question is how it can be possible that in an environment of rights and freedoms and with respect for Article 2 of the EU Treaty, these disparities continue to exist, affecting the fundamental rights of women, who make up approximately 50% of the EU population.

The proposal of the European citizens' initiative My Voice, My Choice – formally and verifiably supported by more than one million EU citizens – seeks to open this debate in a pragmatic way.

Given that the EU does not have competence in health matters and harmonisation is difficult in this field, it is proposed to create an EU budget fund to facilitate travel to another EU country and health coverage for the proper exercise of the right to abortion in that other EU country. Experience shows that only women with financial means in countries where abortion is prohibited or restricted can afford the costs of such travel, while thousands of other women who lack the financial wherewithal must either undergo unwanted pregnancies or resort to unsafe, clandestine or risky abortion practices, with serious risks to their health and integrity.

The EESC opinion fully supports the My Voice, My Choice initiative and endorses the arguments put forward by civil society in promoting this initiative, which has already been approved by the European Parliament. We hope that the Commission will shoulder its responsibility, listen to civil society, take note of this initiative and the underlying debate and take the initiative to design an EU policy instrument that facilitates access to abortion rights for all women in the EU.