Is There A Right To An Abortion Under European Law?

Over 30 percent of pregnancies in Europe end in abortion.  Yet, there is a growing number of European organizations and legislators who are questioning this “right to abortion” and who are demanding justice for unborn children. 

Our colleagues at the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ), our European affiliate, are leading the way in this fight for life in their region. 

In his latest article published in the Ave Maria International Law Journal, ECLJ attorney Gregor Puppnick analyzes the so-called right to an abortion in European Law and discusses emerging social trends in Europe that are challenging the abortion culture. 

Exposing the growing support for life across Europe, Gregor writes:

In recent years, a growing number of European States are reopening the debate on abortion and reconsidering legislation that would place restrictions on abortion. To this day, most European States permit abortion on demand. However, the number of States that impose legal restrictions on abortion during the first weeks of gestation may increase.

Ultimately, Gregor concludes his analysis:

Both politically and legally, European law does not recognize, much less guarantee, the right to an abortion. Furthermore, international law guarantees the right to life for every human being and encourages States “to reduce the recourse to abortion” which “must, as far as possible, be avoided.”

The new cultural trend favorable to the protection of life faces opposition because it goes against the dominant culture inherited from the 1960s. It is in this context that the will of some governments, like in France, to normalize abortion and to make it a fundamental right of women can be understood. But this “right,” in order to exist and to last, requires ignoring the rights of an embryo and human fetus. Yet, the progress of science and consciousness working together, slowly but surely, has led to a better understanding of the development of a human being.

Thus, the promotion of abortion as an individual right is in decline for two powerful reasons: through experience, one finds liberal legislation leads to unsatisfactory results, and through scientific reasoning, one finds that further progress prompts many more to reconsider the dignity of the human being from conception. The decline of the right to abortion is more challenging for society than its advance because it demands that we be more human, responsible, and united, in order to recognize and welcome the lives of persons at all stages of development.

You can read more of Gregor’s comprehensive analysis here.

The ACLJ and its international affiliates continue our important work to fight for full human dignity for every life, whether it’s unborn children or persecuted women and children around the world.