Maltese Pro-Life Group Warns EU Against Funding ‘Abortion Tourism’ Initiative
Local pro-life group Life Network has called out a recent petition as a subtle attempt to convince the EU to fund “abortion tourism”.
“Under the individualistic name of ‘My Voice, My Choice’, it is asking the EU to fund ‘abortion tourism’, enabling women to go and have an abortion in a country that is more permissive than their own.” Life Network CEO Miriam Sciberras said.
“What does this maneuvering reveal about the desire to manipulate the institutions, in defiance of the law in each country?”
The ‘My Voice, My Choice’ European Citizens’ initiative calls on the European Commission to propose EU funding for safe abortion access for women from regions, including Malta, where such services aren’t available.
It surpassed 1.2 million signatures, which means the European Commission is obliged to issue an official response. Malta gathered 4,410 online signatures, representing a mere 1% of the population.
However, local activists are hailing it as a success since it exceeded the petition’s threshold of 4,230 signatures for Malta.
Sciberras said the European Commission should take into account the voices of citizens who have expressed their position against abortion through their votes.
“The Commission cannot accede to this request without seriously undermining the freedoms of citizens in EU countries,” she warned.
“In May 2008, European citizens voted in favour of the Treaty of Lisbon, which defines the respective competences of the European Union and the Member States. Article 5 of the Treaty reiterates the principle of conferral of competence, according to which EU action is strictly limited to those areas in which the Member States have conferred competence.”
“Abortion is not an EU competence and remains the exclusive competence of the Member States, as the European Commissioner for Equality, Hadja Lahbib, pointed out in February 2025.”
Sciberras said the petition presented to the EC is one of “subterfuge” as it proposes the funding of a mechanism that would enable citizens to circumvent national laws against abortion.
“The ruse is clever and skillfully presented: with no concrete proposal for a funding mechanism, the Commission has been able to register this initiative without rejecting it a priori on the grounds of illegality,” she said.
“Above all, the stratagem borders on tartuffery. ‘The scandal of the world is what offends, and it is not sin to sin in silence’, said Tartuffe.”
She warned that if the EC accepts this proposal, it would be tantamount to European interference with member states’ legislation.
“It would be unacceptable for the European Union to circumvent, undermine and thwart national political choices in this way,” she said.
“The Commission cannot directly contradict the legitimate choices of each Member State in the highly sensitive area of protecting unborn human life.”
“While abortion falls within the exclusive remit of the Member States, the legal protection of the dignity, right to life and integrity of every human being from the moment of conception falls within the remit of the EU. The embryo is the beginning of the development process of a human being, as established by the CJEU in the Brüstle v Greenpeace judgment.”
Sciberras also noted that around 1.7 million people had signed European Citizens’ Initiative back in 2014 which called on the EU to stop funding activities that involve the destruction of human embryos, particularly in the fields of research, development aid and public health.
“This initiative remains unrivalled, with a budget five times smaller than the My Voice My Choice initiative. The Commission did not follow up.”
“At a time when it is being presented with a diametrically opposed and manifestly illegal initiative, it would be a good idea for it to remember this request – and the choices made by all European citizens in defining its competences.”
Photos: Life Network Malta
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