European Commission Decision on Use of Social Fund towards Abortion Raises Debate

European Union member countries can make use of the EU Social Fund to pay for safe abortions by women who do not have access to safe terminations, European Commission has said.

This means that if a woman who does not have the resource and access to safe abortion, and travels to another EU member state for abortion, the said member state can make use of the EU fund to help the woman get safe abortion. The member state can make of the social fund to pay for her costs on travel, accommodation, medical fees etc.

Likewise, if a woman from a rural region in a member state chooses to travel to the city within her own country for safe abortion, the member state can make use of the fund to support her for safe abortion.

The decision of the European Commission with regard to the EU Social Fund to be used for safe abortion has attracted criticism from the far right.

Many EU member states have decriminalized safe abortion, but a few countries such as Malta and Poland have bans in place.

Safe abortion is a big issue and a big debate in European Union on the backdrop of a huge number of abortions that take place every here, including quite a few unsafe abortions, according to reports.