Abortion rights are featuring in this year’s European election campaign in a way we’ve not seen before

Summary:

The landmark decision in France to inscribe the right to abortion in the constitution serves to protect the law that first legalised abortion in the country in 1975. This law – the so-called Veil law – was championed by Simone Veil, one of France’s most admired and respected political figures, and an icon of the women’s rights movement. Following her political success at national level, Veil stood in the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979. Once elected, the parliament chose her as its President, and she became the first woman to head any of the European institutions.

Political parties are gearing up for the latest round of elections to the European Parliament in June 2024, more than 40 years after Veil first entered the institution. And issues of reproductive rights are on the agenda once again. In 2022, the European Parliament felt the need to issue a resolution strongly condemning backsliding in women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health rights.

Yet, the parliamentary resolution masks internal divisions between, and sometimes within, the political groups of the European parliament. As these political groups are launching their campaigns and election manifestos, it is clear that the issue of abortion has become part of the wider political polarisation seen across Europe.