Abortion, Speech and the European Community

This article discusses the impact of dismantling borders within the European Community on national abortion laws. It shows that while local laws regulating abortion are viewed as unrelated to the economic harmonization of Europe, two incidents highlight the difficulty of separating economic activity from reproductive practices. One is the story of a German woman charged with extraterritorial abortion after being subjected to an involuntary medical exam. The other incident is the case of SPUC v. Grogan, wherein the European Court of Justice was faced with the task of construing boundaries between Ireland and Great Britain on the issue of abortion information in the face of a treaty which guarantees open borders for access to medical services within Europe. The author concludes that as long as there remains an underlying normative controversy regarding abortion in Europe, EC institutions will continue to be faced by states attempting to close their borders to enforce policies on this issue. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Abortion, International - Europe]