Going abroad to get an abortion, a struggle for thousands of women in Europe

“Exporting Abortion”, a transnational investigation, reveals that more than 5,000 women in Europe have to travel abroad each year to access abortion services due to obstacles they face in exercising this right in their home country.

20 May 2025
Francesca Barca, Translated by Ciarán Lawless

On 24 April of this year the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) My Voice, My Choice came to a close. The initiative attracted around 1.2 million signatures: a remarkable success for an ECI – a mechanism that calls the European Commission to propose a legal act in an area where the member countries delegated powers to the EU, provided it collects enough signatures. The campaign demanded a financing mechanism to guarantee safe abortion care for all those without access to such services.

Current laws and practices, it seems, are far removed from what civil society knows to be the reality.

Continued:  https://voxeurop.eu/en/abortion-abroad-struggle-women-europe/


Around 240 Irish women still travel to the UK every year for abortions

April 7, 2025

At least 5,860 European women crossed borders for abortions in 2023. This includes Ireland, even after the repeal of the Eighth Amendment in 2018.

The Journal Investigates latest report showed that women still come across bureaucratic hurdles that force them to travel. Its editor, Maria Delaney, said Irish women continue to travel to Britain for abortions.

Continued: https://www.newstalk.com/news/around-240-irish-women-still-travel-to-the-uk-every-year-for-abortions-2152245