By Antonia Fiore Faustini
In the heart of Europe, where the ideals of freedom and equality have for centuries inspired social struggles and the law of states, a harsh reality is unfolding that demands our collective attention and reflection, a reality in which the autonomy of persons with uteruses is restricted daily by the very systems that should protect their rights.
Today, across the European Union, 20 million women and people with uteruses find themselves trapped in a web of restrictive laws and inadequate healthcare systems. In Malta and Poland, where abortion is banned, people are often forced to have abortions underground, putting their health and lives at risk, or to travel abroad at their own expense. This is a dramatic phenomenon that reminds us of a great truth already highlighted by the feminist movement of the last century: abortion cannot be banned in its entirety, only legal abortion can be banned, thereby relegating people who – for numerous and unjudgeable reasons – choose to seek it, to a state of clandestinity and criminalization. In other countries, for example, Romania and Austria, the situation is equally disastrous: here, abortion, although legally permitted, is not recognised as a medical procedure paid for by the state. This, consequently, forces citizens of these countries to bear the cost of the procedure themselves, thus effectively restricting access and the implementation of one of their rights. This inequality or impossibility of access is not just a statistic, these are not just numbers among the many that make up the Union’s reports: this data is the representation of a profound violation of the human rights to health and self-determination of more than 20 million European citizens.
In this context, the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “My Voice, My Choice” is proposed as a rallying call, a collective appeal to the European institutions for the establishment of a solidarity mechanism to guarantee access to safe, legal and free abortion for all European citizens who need it. The aim of this ECI is for the European Union to set up an economic fund to guarantee access to the right to abortion for all European citizens, offering economic support both to citizens who live in countries where abortion is privately paid, and to citizens who live in countries where abortion is forbidden, who must therefore travel abroad.
Within a political entity such as the European Union, which proudly presents itself as a community that carries forward hopes and promises of human rights and dignity, this ECI challenges us to confront uncomfortable truths about reproductive justice and accessibility of rights, as well as the stratification of struggles and processes of marginalisation. ‘My Voice, My Choice’ seeks to overcome these barriers through an initiative that embodies a feminist and intersectional vision from the grassroots, which recognises and highlights both that the struggle for reproductive rights cannot be separated from the broader struggle against inequality in terms of accessibility and also that the right to choose is not only about individual autonomy, but also about dismantling systemic injustices of a political nature that particularly affect marginalised groups, who already face challenges in terms of race, social class and gender.
The proposal for a European solidarity mechanism is a step that is as courageous as it is necessary to ensure that reproductive healthcare is indeed a fundamental right and not a privilege reserved for a few. It challenges the European Union to live up to its fundamental principles, safeguarding the rights of all its citizens regardless of the country in which they reside, in a broader and more substantial perspective of European citizenship. It also urges politicians to recognise that access to safe and legal abortion is not just a matter of individual rights but a political issue of public health, which affects free subjectivities as much as families, communities, and societies at large. By framing abortion as part of the right to health we can begin to shift the narrative away from stigma and shame towards understanding and support, this however requires a collective and transnational effort to create policies that not only protect, but empower people with wombs, granting them the autonomy to make choices about their own bodies without geographical, political or economic limits.
In imagining a future in which ‘My Voice, My Choice’ becomes a reality, we must engage in deep collective introspection and ask ourselves: How can we build a Europe that truly reflects the ideals of solidarity and justice? By what means can we ensure that every individual, regardless of their particular living conditions, has the right and practical opportunity to make decisions about their own body? The answers lie in our willingness to address the systemic conditions that perpetuate inequality and to advocate for transnational and inclusive policies that prioritise the collective claiming of certain rights over the de facto accessibility of their enforcement.
‘My Voice, My Choice’ is an invitation to reclaim our power as women and citizens, allies and activists, to articulate our needs and to build together a Europe in which reproductive rights are a universal guarantee. In doing so, it is necessary to recognise that the struggle for reproductive justice is only one of many facets and intersections that characterise a broader struggle for equity and social justice. Through collective commitment it is possible to forge a Europe that not only recognises people’s rights, but also celebrates their autonomous and self-determined choices as building blocks for the fabric of our social and political communities. ‘My Voice, My Choice’ in this, from my perspective, is not just an initiative: it is a step in the direction of a future where all and everyone through public participation can assert their values and their right to choose without fear, without having to face stigma or be limited by economic hardship.
Antonia “Fiore” Faustini is a PhD candidate in Moral Philosophy at La Sapienza University in Rome, her main research interests are moral theory and bioethics, mainly in the medical field. Since 2021 she is a member of the Associazione Luca Coscioni (ALC), for which she coordinated the collection of signatures in Calabria region during the campaign “Referendum Eutanasia Legale” and later worked as a copywriter and social media manager. Since 2022 she has been the coordinator of Cellula Coscioni Roma, a local section of ALC, and a member of the national General Council. Since 2022 she has been a member of the collective of CSOA La Strada in Rome, a historical social and cultural center active since 1994 in local and transnational projects of mutualism and solidarity, mainly aimed at youth. Her responsibilities at CSOA La Strada include cultural and artistic planning, event organization and project management.