A new “roadmap” for the future of women’s rights from the European Commission’s equality commissioner, Hadja Lahbib, lays out her vision for women’s health. But a big question mark hangs over abortion. 

Lahbib promised to improve equal access for medical care for women, including more diverse clinical trials, diagnostics and treatments during her Friday presentation of the European Commission’s Roadmap for Women’s Rights. 

“In 2025, women are still dying from conditions like heart attacks at higher rates than men, and not because their bodies are weaker, but because medical research has historically prioritized men,” said Lahbib. 

“This is not just a gap in science, it’s a failure of equality in health care and it is costing lives,” she added.  

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at its launch that there is no reason why women “should have lower health standards” because of gender. 

But on the topic of abortion and sexual and reproductive health, Lahbib leaned on a familiar refrain: policy on abortion remains entirely up to EU member states, despite commenting on what she called a “worrying trend” of attacks on reproductive freedom in the EU and worldwide.

“We are here talking about a national competence,” said Lahbib, adding that she could only support “action regarding women’s sexual and reproductive health”, without mentioning what those actions would be.  

As a refresher, the Commission passed the portfolio for women’s health and abortion to Lahbib after the Hungarian health commissioner affiliated with right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Olivér Várhelyi, failed to impress parliamentarians on abortion.

Greens/EFA MEP Mélissa Camara, a member of the Committee on Women’s Rights (FEMM), said that Lahbib’s roadmap “lacked ambition” and sends out “mixed messages”.  

“Despite our requests to Hadja Lahbib for a clear commitment on sexual and reproductive rights, we have seen only timid progress,” she said, adding that Lahbib’s plan failed to include a right to abortion.

“This strategy must guarantee universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights within and beyond the EU,” said Heléne Fritzon, an MEP from the Socialists & Democrats.

Some MEPs have pushed the right to abortion to be included in the cross-border health directive.

But abortion remains a controversial topic in the EU, despite the bloc championing gender equality. While it’s possible to obtain an abortion nearly everywhere in the EU, Poland and Malta still highly restrict access to abortion, and in Italy, doctors cite moral reasons to refuse to perform the procedure.

Calls to enshrine abortion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as proposed by the Parliament’s non-binding resolution in 2024, would need consensus across all 27 member states. And not all governments — particularly those led by conservative parties — are on board.

In December last year, facing the Parliament’s health committee, Lahbib said she would “not budge” on wanting to advance the right to abortion as an EU-wide measure.

[BTS]