My Voice, My Choice gets required 1 million signatures

A Slovenian-led European Citizens' Initiative in support of accessible and safe abortions across Europe has gathered the required one million signatures to merit consideration by the EU's executive, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

"This is not a Christmas miracle. It's the power of our community," the campaign wrote on Instagram as they revealed the milestone on 22 December.

Called My Voice, My Choice and coordinated by the 8 March Institute, a Slovenian non-profit, the campaign had until April next year to collect one million signatures from at least seven EU member states.

It launched in April, and by June it was already halfway towards the goal.

Now, they want to gather another 200,000 just to make sure there are enough signatures in the event there may be problems with some of the signatures they have collected.

Nika Kovač, the head of the 8 March Institute, said that the campaign is therefore expected to run for at least another six months.

The campaign has transcended European borders and attracted public attention in countries such as the US and Japan, with celebrities including Hollywood star Mark Ruffalo endorsing it.

Its success is proof that reproductive rights are "a common value of the entire Europe", said Kovač.

The network set up to run the campaign consists of more than 300 organisations with more than a thousand volunteers in the EU.

Because more than 20 million women in the EU do not have access to abortion, My Voice, My Choice would like everyone in the EU to be able to have access to safe abortion care, no matter who they are or where they come from.

The idea is to set up a financial mechanism that would ensure accessible and safe abortions across Europe.