EU smells trouble, and Trump, in US abortion fight – POLITICO

The explosive news that the U.S. Supreme Court is to roll back abortion rights greeted Europe’s eastern edge at dawn, and reverberated across the Continent throughout the day: Once again America was plunging itself into a partisan, inward-looking culture war on an issue most of the Western world regards as a private health matter.

Only this time, it was happening with a real war raging in Ukraine — at a moment when the world, especially Europe, could hardly afford Washington to be distracted.

“My first thought was: Back to the Dark Ages,” said a senior government official from an Eastern European country, a woman who, like most officials and diplomats contacted for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid roiling transatlantic relations.

“Great day for far-right in U.S. and in Eastern Europe; gloomy day for women’s rights and progress,” the senior official said. “This is the key message.” But the same official said she had contacts celebrating on social media, including one who posted: “In this decision alone, having Trump as a president paid off.”

Sophie in ‘t Veld, a liberal member of the European Parliament, shared the news on her Twitter feed before most of her constituents had their first cup of coffee.

“Women’s rights thrown back by a century,” in ‘t Veld wrote. “Conservative judges carrying out the Trumpian agenda of restoring patriarchy. And have no illusions: the anti-choice movement is on the rise in Europe as well. Our hard fought rights must be defended vigourously!”

Not long after, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, a center-right conservative from Malta, where abortion is illegal, gave an interview on French radio station RTL, in which she insisted that the EU’s position, in favor of abortion rights, is settled.

“We can discuss the U.S. position,” Metsola said. “But here in Europe, there is no discussion.”

In fact, there are still some very serious discussions about abortion in Europe.

Metsola’s own record of voting against abortion rights was the main controversy over her candidacy to lead the Parliament. A 43-year-old mother of four, Metsola sidestepped the issue in part by stressing that Brussels does not set rules on abortion in the EU, where health policy is overwhelmingly handled by national governments.

There is also a fierce and divisive debate over abortion in Poland, where the government adopted a near-total ban on abortion with limited exceptions in the cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother’s life. Poland’s abortion ban has created additional complications for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war, including victims of sexual assault by Russian soldiers who cannot easily provide documentation that they reported a crime.

Some officials in Europe were quick to condemn the impending U.S. court decision and to voice support for women’s rights.

“London stands with women across the United States today,” the U.K. capital’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, tweeted early Tuesday. “Roe v Wade enshrined women’s fundamental rights over their…