BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 The European Union said on Thursday it would back efforts to financially support women seeking access to abortions, after a multiyear campaign by more than a million citizens across the 27-nation bloc to expand support for women in nations with conservative laws.<\/p>\n
Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality, said on Thursday that the EU\u2019s 147 billion euro European Social Funds Plus can be used by EU nations to treat and defray costs of an abortion for women regardless of where they come from within the bloc. <\/p>\n
\u201cNearly half a million unsafe abortions take place in Europe every year,\u201d Lahbib said. \u201cSafety and freedom must never depend on your postcode or your income.\u201d<\/p>\n
She praised the My Voice, My Choice campaign, saying organizers had brought her boxes full of letters from women across the bloc.<\/p>\n
The initiative had called for the EU to set up a separate fund for women to travel outside their home nations to secure safe abortions. And while the commission did not do that, organizers said the decision achieves their aims by other means.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile 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,\u201d said Nika Kova\u010d, coordinator of the My Voice, My Choice initiative. \u201cThis is not symbolic. It is a political commitment to women\u2019s rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt establishes beyond doubt that access to safe abortion is a matter of public health and social justice,\u201d Kova\u010d said. \u201cFor the first time, the Commission confirms unequivocally that EU funds can be used to guarantee access to safe abortion care \u30fc particularly for women in vulnerable situations, regardless of where they come from in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n