Over a million people from across Europe have supported an initiative to ensure women have free access to abortion. The European Citizens Initiative ‘My Voice My Choice’ is now aiming to collect two hundred thousand more signatures, just to be sure that when it is submitted to the European Commission for formal follow up, the 1 million signature threshold is sure to be met.
Citizens Takeover Europe fully supports the initiative and calls on everyone to sign and support it. The coalition also very strongly welcomes the consolidation of the Europe wide feminist movement that has accompanied the collecting of signatures for the ECI.
The continued mobilisation of the network following the submission of the ECI to the Commission is going to be crucial to ensure that there is a follow up and action is taken to make abortion rights accessible for those who need it.
European Citizens Initiatives only invite the Commission to take an initiative, they do not oblige it. Recent experience with animal rights ECIs that were submitted to the Commission shows that even when the Commission agrees to take initiative (as it did on End the Cage Age ECI), this is not always followed up with action. And if the Commission does take action, then there will be a political process in the Parliament and Council. So continued coordinated pressure from feminist and democratic movements will be essential over the coming period.
The submission of the ECI is not the end of the story – it is the end of the first chapter of translating citizen demands into European law
As citizen power is mobilised to ensure access to abortion, a crucial part of the story will also be about reinforcing and reforming the democratic tools like the ECI that citizens can use to advance their rights in Europe*. Citizens Takeover Europe is strongly committed to supporting all aspects of this attempt to ensure each person in Europe has control over their future.
*Take a look at all the ongoing ECIs you may want to sign – democracy is plural!