Our fight in the European Parliament

In February, the European Parliament voted in favour of the EU joining the Istanbul Convention - the international treaty on combatting violence against women and domestic violence.

Left MEPs used the opportunity to highlight that the right to abortion is under constant threat in some Member States and included wording in the resolution that denying safe access to abortion is a form of violence against women. All eyes were on Italy and, for the first time, a European Parliament resolution states that “access to abortion in Italy is slowly being eroded”.

Find out more about the Istanbul Convention and why we need it here.

Good news from Spain!

Huge victory for the feminist movement as the Spanish Congress passed two flagship laws: the reform of the Law on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy and the Trans and LGBTI Rights Law. Hear more on abortion reform from our MEP Idoia Villanueva (Podemos)

From those who fought before us

In France, on the 5th of April 1971, 343 women who had the courage to say, “I've had an abortion” signed a Manifesto which was published on the cover of the magazine Le Nouvel Observateur.

The Manifesto called for the legalisation of abortion and free access to contraception. It paved the way for the law's approval.

Abortion was illegal, and this was an act of civil disobedience. Some signatories lost their jobs, and their families stopped talking to them. They were vilified, shamed and accused of being irresponsible and called slut.

Learn more about the Manifesto with this video.

The fight goes viral

The TikTok trend “#IfWeGoDownWeGoDownTogether “ became a symbol of sisterhood. With this hashtag - that collected more than 60 million views - women across the world have made their homes available for those in need of abortion in recovery that were denied access in their country.

One to read

You want to have an abortion, how do you find out where to go? Your first step is probably to look online for a clinic.

An analysis found that anti-choice organisations are placing their ads on Google targeting precisely those seeking abortion.

Almost half of the adverts shown by Google UK to a user searching 40 key phrases such as “confidential abortion support” and “pregnant teenager help”, were from groups opposed to abortion.

Read all about it here!