{"id":5698,"date":"2025-10-24T17:36:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T17:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oneofus.eu\/?p=5698"},"modified":"2025-12-01T14:22:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T14:22:48","slug":"pr-women-across-europe-call-for-maternity-support-at-the-european-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oneofus.eu\/sl\/pr-women-across-europe-call-for-maternity-support-at-the-european-parliament\/","title":{"rendered":"[PR] Women Across Europe Call for Maternity Support at the European Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cReal Choice Means Real Support\u201d <\/em>–<\/strong> 15 October 2025 \u2013 Brussels<\/strong><\/p>\n

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On Wednesday 15 October 2025, in the heart of the European Parliament, the One of Us European Federation gathered more than 300 people, members of civil society, leaders, majority of them young people. They gathered around women giving their testimony about abortion and difficult pregnancies, and 8 Members of the European Parliament, from two different parties: EPP and ECR. The 300 people came from all over 17 different European countries, to call for a \u201cReal Support\u201d<\/em> for women: freedom of women and mother can only be real if, facing difficult pregnancy, they receive real support and help from family and society, and not abandonment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Hosted by MEPs Peter Agius (EPP, Malta), Paolo Inselvini<\/strong> (ECR, Italy) and Laurence Trochu<\/strong> (ECR, France), the event brought together testimonies of women from Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, and the Netherlands. Each shared a powerful personal story revealing the same reality: behind every abortion or pregnancy crisis, there is a woman in need of support<\/em>.<\/p>


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\u201cWhen a woman doesn\u2019t want to abort, also deserves to be heard<\/em>\u201d, said\u00a0Charlene<\/strong>,\u00a0from\u00a0France, a mother of\u00a0three\u00a0whose story moved the audience. \u201cI had an abortion because no one listened to me. I was left alone in my anguish<\/em>\u201d, she followed.\u00a0She\u00a0shared the trauma of an abortion undergone under pressure:\u00a0\u201cAt the IPPF clinic, they spoke of \u2018my choice,\u2019 yet I was never heard. I said no, but they pushed me anyway. In Europe, a woman who says, \u201cI don\u2019t want to abort\u201d\u00a0must be protected.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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From Spain,\u00a0Leire\u00a0<\/strong>denounced the institutional neglect faced by women who wish to continue their pregnancies:\u00a0\u201cEurope cannot call itself feminist while leaving pregnant women alone. The right to choose also means the right\u00a0not\u00a0to abort.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0She continued: \u201cWhich kind of equality is there when a woman who wants to keep her baby is left alone? In Spain, 12 times more money is spent on abortion than on helping pregnant women.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Soemia Sibillo<\/strong>, Director of the Mangiagalli Maternity Center in Milan, highlights the results of hundreds of Pregnancy Help Centers in Italy:\u00a0\u201cIn forty years, [in Italy] more than 26,000 children have been born thanks to this help. No woman has ever regretted choosing life. Europe must transform this solidarity into a continental policy.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Europe needs to conjugate the \u201cwe\u201d rather than the ‘I’, the \u00ab\u00a0ours\u201d, rather than \u201cmy and mine\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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From Slovenia,\u00a0Klara <\/strong>said she felt shame to be a single mother pregnant. \u201cHow will society look at me?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Pregnant women are not to be judged but listened to and helped.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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From the Netherlands,\u00a0Nirvana\u00a0<\/strong>launched messages of healing and hope, reminding that maternity is not a private burden but a shared European responsibility.\u00a0\u201cIt took me time to understand I was completely alone. Blood, fear, panic, doubts… and no help at all<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Mafalda<\/strong>, from Portugal, expressed from the bottom of her heart: \u201cEurope cannot punish those who have children. If a woman wants to carry her pregnancy to term, she should be able to do it with dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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EU Voices from the European Parliament<\/span><\/h3>\n

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\u201cEurope was built on the conviction that human dignity comes first,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0said\u00a0Tonio Borg<\/strong>, President of the One of Us European Federation.\u00a0\u201cIf we truly believe in equality, then supporting mothers in difficulty is not optional \u2014 it is the European way to protect freedom and justice for all.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Miriam Lexman, MEP<\/strong>, said:\u00a0<\/em>\u201cDefending life is not extremism, it\u2019s humanity. \u201cUnborn children are not merchandise. We must protect the truth about the human being.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Paolo Inselvini, MEP<\/strong>, who co-hosted the event, underlined that protecting maternity is an act of realism, not ideology:\u00a0\u201cThese stories remind us that solidarity begins before birth. Europe\u2019s social model must defend every mother and every child as part of one human family.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Peter Agius, MEP,<\/strong>\u00a0also cohost, added:\u00a0\u201cA society that does not support motherhood weakens its own foundations. Real choice means giving women real help, not empty slogans.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Bert-Jan Ruissen, MEP<\/strong>\u00a0affirmed: \u201cAs Members of the European Parliament, defending fragile human life is our moral duty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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A European Appeal<\/h3>\n

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At the close of the conference, women who gave their testimony and MEPs signed the\u00a0Engagement for Maternal Support Declaration<\/strong>, urging the EU to promote maternity support as part of the Union\u2019s commitment to human dignity under Articles 3 and 33 of the\u00a0EU Charter of Fundamental Rights<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe, women who have experienced vulnerable pregnancies and prenatal loss, together with Members of the European Parliament, call on the European institutions to promote the right to maternity support as recognized in the EU\u2019s legal framework and fundamental rights instruments. Together, let us foster a culture that supports maternity and defends the dignity of all human life.<\/p>\n

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Guided by the principles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, in particular Article 3 on the integrity of the person and Article 33 on the protection of the family and maternity,<\/p>\n

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we urge the European Union to:<\/p>\n

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