MEPs voted on Thursday to amend the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to include the right to abortion. This modification of the charter, however, has very little chance of succeeding since it would require the unanimous agreement of the Member States.
French President Emmanuel Macron himself has spoken out in favor of including the “freedom to resort to” abortion in the EU Charter. The vote of MEPs comes more than a month after the inclusion of voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) in the French Constitution. In Poland, a country with a Catholic tradition, abortion is only authorized in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother's life is in danger. In Malta, where abortion remained illegal in all circumstances, the legislation was relaxed in June 2023 but abortion is still illegal in the sole case where the life of the mother is not in danger and the fetus is not not viable. The EU Charter, proclaimed in December 2020, has the same legal value as the treaties, and any revision requires unanimity of member states.