Slovenian Campaigner Hails ‘Historic’ Advance for Abortion Rights in Europe

Vuk Tesija Osijek
March 3, 2026

Nika Kovac, head of a campaign for safe and free abortion in the EU, tells BIRN that European Commission approval for funding pregnancy terminations abroad for women who can’t access abortions in their home countries is a civil rights victory.

Speaking a few hours after the European Commission decided that member states may use an existing EU social fund to provide free abortions for women who travel from EU countries that restrict access to safe abortion, Nika Kovac was jubilant.

The Commission was responding to a proposal from the My Voice, My Choice women's rights campaign led by Kovac, a 33-year-old Slovenian anthropologist, sociologist and activist.

Continued: https://balkaninsight.com/2026/03/03/slovenian-campaigner-hails-historic-advance-for-abortion-rights-in-europe/

03.03.2026

News

European Commission

My Voice My Choice campaign

Abortion in Europe: a right for some, a fight for millions of others

January 21, 2025
A European Perspective, European Broadcasting Union

Reproductive rights have been at the centre of political debates worldwide in recent months. As US President Donald Trump takes office following a campaign where access to abortion was a central theme, Europe too finds itself at a crossroads between liberal policies and restrictive laws.

As pro-life movements gain traction across the globe, campaigners are seeking an EU-wide guarantee to safe abortion access. From Hungary to Italy, France, Switzerland and beyond, we look at abortion rights from A European Perspective.

Continued: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/life-aging/abortion-in-europe-a-right-for-some-a-fight-for-millions-of-others/88749102

50 years after the former Yugoslavia protected abortion rights, that legacy is under threat

By Darko Bandic And Jovana Gec, The Associated Press
Mar 27, 2024

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — With vigils outside clinics, marches drawing thousands and groups of men kneeling to pray in public squares, religious and neo-conservative groups have been ramping up pressure to ban abortions in staunchly Catholic Croatia.

The fierce debate has fueled divisions in the European Union nation of about 3.9 million people where abortion remains legal but access to the procedure is often denied, sending many women to neighboring Slovenia to end a pregnancy.

The movement is in stark contrast to Croatia’s recent past, when it was part of the former Yugoslavia, a Communist-run country that protected abortion rights in its constitution 50 years ago.

Continued: https://halifax.citynews.ca/2024/03/27/50-years-after-the-former-yugoslavia-protected-abortion-rights-that-legacy-is-under-threat/

Croatia: Mirela Čavajda: Rally in Support of Women Health Rights on Thursday 12th

By Jose Alfonso Cussianovich
9 May 2022

May 9, 2022 - Mirela Čavajda, a 39-year-old pregnant woman who requested an abortion in the 26th week of pregnancy after the fetus was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, had her request rejected by three hospitals in Zagreb. Donations from 1,472 citizens and 16 legal entities will cover Mirela's medical procedure that will take place in Slovenia.

The case of Mirela Čavajda, a 39-year-old pregnant woman whose request to have an abortion in the 26th week of pregnancy after the fetus was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor was rejected by three hospitals in Zagreb, has caused great outrage in the country, with demands for the reproductive rights and health rights of Croatian women to be respected.

Continued: https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/62700-mirela-cavajda