MARA-Med Newsletter: Jan-June 2026 / Issue I

A quick look at where abortion rights stand across the Mediterranean this half, and what MARA-Med has been building on the ground: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia. 

Every six months, we’ll bring together the developments that matter most for abortion rights across the Mediterranean from policy changes and court rulings to the grassroots wins happening on the ground in countries across the region.

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News from region

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The anti-abortion group “40 Days for Life” held daily vigils outside Mostar University Clinical Hospital. NGOs said this violated patient privacy; the Federation Gender Centre ruled it breached Gender Equality Law. A 2026 Sarajevo Open Centre survey of 550 people found abortion remains highly taboo: 69% support legal abortion, though most favour restrictions. Support rises to 92% for health risk, 75% for rape, but falls below 20% for economic/personal reasons. 71% acknowledged stigma; 54% reported little legal/medical knowledge. Key finding: broad support for sex education and state aid for mothers, not bans.

Legal status: Abortion is legal on request up to 10 weeks, but access is uneven: conscientious objection is unregulated.

Croatia

The anti-abortion “Walk for Life” campaign expanded to 20 cities, holding its eleventh Zagreb march on 9 May under a slogan for legal protection of life from conception. Organisers accused Zagreb’s administration of obstructing permits; Mayor Tomislav Tomašević denied this, saying permits awaited documentation, while opposing the campaign’s call for an abortion ban. 

Legal Status: Abortion is legal on request up to 10 weeks, but nearly 60% of doctors invoke conscientious objection.

Egypt

Egyptian women’s rights organisations renewed demands to legalise safe abortion for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. After widely discussed cases involving two minor girls, the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance revived its “Not My Fault” campaign, proposing to shield survivors from criminal liability within the first 120 days and demanding specialised public-hospital units with free medical, psychological and legal support. An Al-Azhar scholar expressed support, citing Islamic principles of preventing harm and protecting dignity. 

Legal status: Abortion is criminalised with almost no legal exceptions, pushing most terminations underground into unregulated, unsafe conditions.

France 

Anti-abortion groups continued targeting Planning Familial centres, including repeated vandalism and threatening graffiti at the organisation’s Strasbourg premises. In April, Equality Minister Aurore Bergé announced a nationwide government mobilisation against intimidation and attacks by anti-abortion movements. 

Legal status: Abortion is constitutionally protected up to 14 weeks.

Greece 

A NEWS 24/7 investigation found that 46 of 80 public hospitals contacted did not provide abortion services, while only 27 confirmed that they did. Refusals were often justified on “conscientious” or “ethical” grounds, and some women were directed to private providers. Those living outside major cities may face travel, accommodation and private healthcare costs ranging from €300 to €1,000.

Legal status: Abortion is legal on request up to 12 weeks, conscientious objection and hospital refusals make it inaccessible in public facilities. 

Italy

Sicily had passed a law requiring hospitals to hire only staff willing to perform abortions; the national government challenged this in court. On 27 March, Italy’s Constitutional Court struck down that specific hiring rule as discriminatory against objecting doctors’ beliefs, but confirmed hospitals must still guarantee abortion access despite widespread objection. Separately, on 13 June, thousands marched in Rome against Italy’s abortion law and planned euthanasia/assisted-suicide legislation, signalling continued pressure though without legal change.

Legal status: Abortion is legal on request up to 90 days. Conscientious objection is legal and very widely used by doctors (over 60-70% nationally).

Malta 

In March, a woman was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence for taking abortion pills herself — the second such conviction in less than a year. The Prime Minister said he won’t change the law, but might support a lighter (non-prison) penalty for her if she appeals. Also in March 2026, the group Women on Waves secretly placed 15 boxes of abortion pills around Malta and Gozo for women under nine weeks pregnant to access — a direct challenge to the ban that caused a stir.

Legal status: Abortion is illegal in Malta in almost all cases, with no general right to abortion on request at any week. 

Slovenia

Abortion discussions in Slovenia centred on the Slovenian-led “My Voice, My Choice” European Citizens’ Initiative, spearheaded by the 8 March Institute, which grew into a transnational movement of over 300 organisations, activists and volunteers. After collecting over 1.1 million verified signatures, it called for an EU financial mechanism for cross-border abortion care. In February, the European Commission allowed use of existing EU social funds for this but declined dedicated funding — campaigners called it an important but limited victory. 

Legal status: Abortion is legal on request up to 10 weeks.

Spain

On 7 April, Spain’s Council of Ministers approved a draft constitutional reform requiring public authorities to guarantee abortion rights “under conditions of real and effective equality,” responding to stark regional gaps — only ~1% of abortions in Madrid and Andalusia occur in public hospitals versus ~60% in Galicia and Navarre. The reform needs a three-fifths parliamentary majority, depending on the resistant opposition Popular Party. Legal scholars note it’s placed in the constitution’s “guiding principles” chapter rather than fundamental rights, weakening its safeguards.

Legal status: Abortion in Spain is legal on request up to 14 weeks.

Morocco

In March, in Marrakech, two young people aged between 22 and 33 were arrested with 166 expired abortion pills. They were using social media to sell them. In April, judicial police in Meknes shut down a doctor and her employee at a private clinic, suspected of trafficking abortion pills via social media.

Legal status: Abortion is criminalised, with exceptions only when the woman’s life or health is at risk

Tunisia 

A video by a gynecologist sparked controversy in Tunisia, spreading widely across social media, concerning the use of non-invasive prenatal testing for selective abortion. On 3 July, the Tunisian Association of Midwifery and Obstetrics issued a statement rejecting the claim, saying it rested on no reliable national data and that the test is a genetic screening tool for detecting chromosomal anomalies, not a means of sex selection or a driver of selective abortion.

Legal status: Abortion is legal on request in the first trimester

News from Mara-med

Abortion Access Study Presented in ARJC Conference

We presented “Beyond Law: The Role of Intermediary Actors in Access to Abortion Care and Information in Tunisia” at the ARJC Conference, examining abortion access in Tunisia through simulated calls to 117 facilities across Tunisia, including 24 public ONFP centers and 93 private clinics. The final sample included 60 facilities, covering 21 of Tunisia’s 24 governorates. Findings show legal access doesn’t guarantee practical access — confidentiality, cost, and staff attitudes remain key barriers.

Palermo Talk on Abortion Networks and Resistance

At the Sirene Festival with Maghweb, we hosted “Nonostante Voi,” bringing together activists and medical workers from Spain, Italy, France, and North Africa to discuss reproductive governance, medicalization, and grassroots strategies for defying abortion restrictions.

SRHR Workshops

We held feminist training workshops in Kasserine, Kef (with GTBC, FEDF) and Sidi Bouzid gathering activists, healthcare workers, and civil society to address reproductive justice, local barriers, and stigma affecting women and marginalized groups.

Advocacy Academy 2026 Continues Across the Mediterranean

Our 9-month regional capacity-building program continues with activists, professionals, and community leaders from across the Mediterranean, deepening discussions on SRHR, abortion rights, bodily autonomy, and gender equality through thematic learning and practical training.

Interviews

Y-PEER Jordan’s Interview: Youth Empowerment, SRHR, and Abortion Access in Jordan 

An interview with Y-PEER Jordan explaining how Jordan’s penal code criminalizes abortion with only narrow medical-committee-approved exceptions, and how the youth-led NGO works to expand SRHR education and reduce stigma despite these legal restrictions.

In Tunisia, Digital Spaces Are Changing the Conversation 

An interview with Omoubou founder Nadia Cherif on how her Tunisian digital platform uses anonymous storytelling and podcasting to break the silence around abortion, sexuality, and bodily autonomy in a country where abortion is legal but still socially taboo.