The European Citizens’ Initiative “My Voice, My Choice: For Safe and Accessible Abortion”. Brief Reflections on Reproductive Rights and Women’s Self-Determination in a Time of Revisionist Backlash

Abstract

This article examines the European Citizens’ Initiative My Voice, My Choice: For Safe and Accessible Abortion, focusing on the position adopted by the European Union institutions regarding sexual and reproductive rights. After reconstructing the content of the initiative and the support expressed by the European Parliament, the paper analyses the division of competences between the European Union and Member States in the field of health protection, as well as the European Commission’s decision to include the financing of access to safe abortion within the framework of the European Social Fund Plus. The analysis also considers the practice of international human rights monitoring bodies, with particular attention to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The article argues that, in a context marked by increasing backlash against reproductive rights and the rise of anti-gender movements, the Initiative constitutes an important step towards recognising access to safe abortion as an essential component of women’s right to health and self-determination.