The recent approval in the European Parliament of a resolution demanding the inclusion of abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is a reaction to the significant advance of the protection of the right to life in the world, which had a strong impulse after the overturning of the Roe v Wade ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States.
The authors of the resolution, which is not binding, know that the petition addressed to the Council of Europe and the European Commission is a political gesture that is unlikely to materialize in the short term; amending the Charter of Fundamental Rights requires the unanimous support of the 27 Member States of the European Union.
There is no binding international treaty or instrument that recognizes abortion as a right; on the contrary, they all enshrine the protection of the right to life. There is no right to kill an innocent human being in gestation in its mother’s womb. There is a right to life. This is the original thinking and intention of the founders of the European Union and the resolution in question openly betrays it.
However, the resolution is a way to push for the shielding of abortion in the local constitutions of some European countries and to stifle the work of citizens, politicians, doctors, religious and organizations that defend the right to life from conception and the protection of the family. The text requires the executive organs of the European Union to take action to exclude these sectors from civic participation, as it considers them “a threat to the rule of law”.
The approved resolution infringes Articles 1, 2, 10, 11, 12, 20 and 21 of the Charter of Rights it wants to reform and Articles 1, 2, 3, 7, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, and 30 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which consecrate respect for human dignity, the right to life, the freedoms of conscience (including the right to object), thought, expression and association, and the right to equality before the law and non-discrimination.
The approved resolution violates articles 1, 2, 10, 11, 12, 20 and 21 of the Charter of Rights it wants to reform and articles 1, 2, 3, 7, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, and 30 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which enshrine the respect for human dignity, the right to life, to freedom and conscientious objection, to the freedoms of thought, expression and association, and the right to equality before the law and non-discrimination.
The members of Political Network for Values firmly believe that the life of every human being is valuable in itself, a member of the human family from the moment of conception, and that its dignity is inalienable, beyond all circumstances and situations of vulnerability. This is an ethical value of universal and transcultural character that is projected as the foundation of the common good. We assume that life is the first of human rights, without which all other rights lose their base; and we are committed to its legal protection.
Therefore, we reject the resolution of the European Parliament and we stand in solidarity with the governments and parliaments of Malta, Hungary and Italy; with the parliaments of Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia and Belgium; with the Supreme Court of the United States and the Constitutional Court of Poland; and with all politicians, civic leaders, and associations that defend life and the family, insulted in this motion.
We call on all members and friends of our Network to redouble their efforts to promote and defend life, family and liberties, through legislative initiatives and public policies that allow us to move forward step by step, strategically and assertively, always adding more people who share our values. The New York Declaration, which we are promoting with our allies and is part of the official documents of the 78th session of the UN, will be of great help in this regard. All of this work is part of what the authors of the resolution call “coordinated backsliding.” Let’s keep moving forward.
We invite all citizens of European countries to vote for candidates who strongly defend life, the family and fundamental freedoms in next June’s elections to renew the European Parliament.
Madrid, April 12, 2024.
