BRUSSELS, Belgium, Nov 13, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Pregnant lawmakers and new 
mothers will be able to vote by proxy in the European Parliament under a rule 
change approved Thursday to cheers from women's rights advocates.

Voting at the EU body is currently only possible in person -- something that 
critics said unfairly penalises women, as some might have to skip key 
sessions before or after giving birth.

On Thursday lawmakers backed updating the rules to allow colleagues who are 
pregnant or have recently given birth to delegate a fellow parliamentarian to 
vote for them.

"No woman should have to choose between serving her voters and having 
children," Parliament President Roberta Metsola said, hailing the "landmark" 
proposal.

The changes need to be approved by member states before entering into force. 
They would allow proxy voting for up to three months before the estimated 
date of birth and six months after childbirth.

Lawmakers did not extend the same rights to fathers, as some on the left had 
wished to do.

"That we do this for mothers now is a good step, but I think it should have 
been done for all parents," Daniel Freund of the Greens told parliament, 
adding he had twice to choose between attending parliament or the birth of 
his children.

"Members of parliament in 2025 should not have to make that call."