Grégor Puppinck in CNE podcast: Goal of EU abortion initiative is to make national laws ineffective
Grégor Puppinck in the studio from the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) in Strasbourg. Photo CNE
European Union
The European Citizen’s Initiative to broaden access to abortion is an attempt to make national rules ineffective. And the goal is even to do this with EU taxpayer’s money.
This is what Grégor Puppinck says in the CNE podcast. He is a lawyer and director of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) in Strasbourg.
Ten years ago, he was fully engaged with the first European Citizen’s Initiative (ECI), called *One of Us. * “We aimed the exact opposite of what the present goal is”, Puppinck says. “We stressed the “us”. In the present ECI My Voice, My Choice, it is only about “me”. It is, in fact, narcissistic.”
My Voice, My Choice is about safe and accessible abortion. This will make “women’s lives freer, safer, and better; wherever they live in our union, whatever conditions they may find themselves in,” promises the website.
In many parts of Europe, there is “lack of access to abortion”. For anyone who lacks this access, the European Union should make a safe termination possible. “Countless lives and livelihoods are ended, disrupted, and lost because of lack of access to safe abortion. This must stop.” All this is done “in the spirit of solidarity”.
The organisation has collected over one million signatures in seven countries so that the demand can be presented to the European Commission. This will result in a hearing at the EC, followed by a hearing in the European Parliament. Still, the European Commission can reject the demands. In any case, the ECLJ and Puppinck will speak against the proposals during the proceedings.
The policy change that the initiative strives for is for women to have an abortion, even if that is not available in their own country or area. “At the end, it is all about money. It is to create a kind of abortion tourism in Europe”, Puppinck states in the CNE podcast.
Panic
Puppinck assesses that the organisation behind the citizens’ initiative is “spreading panic” about abortion. “There is no right to abortion. Even in France, where abortion is in the constitution now, abortion is always seen as the exception and is still in the penal code. But under certain conditions, it is allowed.”
The French situation is comparable to that of most EU member states. Only in Poland and Malta, abortion is forbidden. “Italy and Hungary are introducing more restrictions. The pro-abortion movement is scared that legislation in the whole of Europe might become more restrictive. The proposed changes in the system are there to make those laws ineffective in advance.”
That all happened after the US Supreme Court decided to repeal Roe vs Wade in June 2022. “They fear there is a trend against free abortion. But that is absolutely stupid. In Europe, we are very far from a prohibition of abortion. There is no justification for this fear. Still, the pro-abortion movements prefer to create an “atmosphere of fear” to justify action, says the lawyer. “They are always spreading panic to get support from politics.”
Puppinck believes, though, that the US Supreme Court decision is in line with the position always taken by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg. “That position is that national states should regulate abortion. It is not a matter of the federation anymore.”
Lobby
Officially, abortion is not part of the European Union. The idea has always been that the member states are autonomous and that “Brussels” does not have to interfere with this.
In practice, this is different, Puppinck says. “The European Commission gives millions to the main pro-abortion lobby, the IPPF. Those organisations promote abortion. So, we must say that the Commission has an agenda on abortion, also overseas. But the Commission does not finance any pro-life or pro-family organisation.”
The European Parliament has said –in April 2024– that abortion should be enshrined as a human right in the European Charter of Human Rights. But that does not impress Puppinck. “First, abortion is not a right. Otherwise, you could have an abortion as you want, without conditions. And secondly, if you want to change the European Charter, you need the unanimity of the member states. And this would not be possible currently.”
But more importantly, the lawyer says this would go against the “logic and coherence” of human rights. “You cannot just create human rights as you want. Human rights are based on philosophy, logic, justice, and human nature. You cannot just say that every human being has a right to kill this baby. This would create incoherencies in the system. This is why the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has always refused to affirm that there is any right to abortion based on human rights. The same applies to the UN. Yes, you can have access to abortion for reasons of the health of the mother. But there is clearly no right.”
Refusal
Although the European Commission might be sympathetic towards abortion, Puppinck still expects that the Commission rejects the demand of My Voice, My Choice. “There are strong legal arguments for refusing. This might lead to a case at the European Court of Justice”, says the Strasbourg lawyer in the CNE podcast.
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