EU opens up funding to guarantee abortion rights across bloc

Women from countries with near-total bans on terminations will be given help to access services elsewhere

EU states will be able to tap into a social fund to help citizens access safe abortions, in an announcement hailed as a victory for women".

The roots of Thursday's announcement go back to a long campaign for the European Commission to create a funding mechanism that would allow women from countries with near-total bans on abortion, such as Malta and Poland, to go where it is legal.