A group of European politicians are mounting an internet campaign to collect a million signatures in a bid to exert pressure on the EU to force countries like Malta to introduce the 'right of abortion'.
Unlike other EU states, abortion is illegal in Malta and to a certain extent also in Ireland and Poland where only limited access is allowed in extreme cases.
In recent years there have been similar initiatives - the most recent by the Council of Europe last year - to put pressure on Malta and other EU member states to accept abortion as 'a fundamental human right'.
The latest initiative comes from Sweden - one of the most liberal EU member states - and is being championed by Brigitta Ohlsson, an extreme left member of the Swedish Liberal People's Party and a feminist activist. It also acquired the endorsement of Baroness Sarah Ludford - a British Liberal MEP and other members of EU national parliaments.
Through a campaign website 'Make Noise for Free Choice' (www.makenoiseforfreechoice.eu), Ms Ohlsson is trying to gather the required million signatures from across the EU in order to prompt the European Commission to launch a legal initiative and present member states with a specific law harmonising the 'right to abortion'. The campaign has so far attracted 3,500 signatures.
This initiative is being taken under a 'citizen's initiative' clause provided by the new Lisbon Treaty, which, if accepted by Ireland in a second referendum on October 2, should be introduced in the beginning of 2010. Through the 'citizen's initiative' a million people can call upon the European Commission to legislate on a particular area.
According to this clause, the European Commission is obliged to consider any proposal signed by at least one million citizens from an unspecified number of member states.
The campaigners state: "When a state denies a woman the right to her own body, integrity and health, it is a violation of her human rights.
"A cornerstone of the European Union is to work for gender equality and health. Therefore, women who lack the access to free, legal and safe abortions in EU countries such as Ireland, Malta and Poland, can no longer be ignored. The governments of these countries must be put under pressure."
Although this initiative will most probably be supported by many current MEPs as the EU chamber has already approved similar motions on reproductive rights and abortion in recent years, the EU Treaty does not give any right to the Union to impose abortion legislation on any member state as this is considered as the exclusive right of the individual sovereign nations.
In order to ensure that this does not happen, before EU accession, the government had also introduced a specific protocol on the issue.
The protocol states that "nothing in the Treaty on European Union, or in the Treaties establishing the European Communities, or in the Treaties or Acts modifying or supplementing those Treaties, shall affect the application in the territory of Malta of national legislation relating to abortion."
Recently, Ireland also negotiated a similar protocol to Malta on abortion as part of its legal guarantees to hold another referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. According to surveys, the lack of clarity on abortion was one of the main reasons for Ireland's first rejection of the treaty two years ago.
The 'Make Noise for Free Choice Campaign' intends to gather signatures until October 2010.