On November 5, the National Council of the Slovak Republic passed a resolution against the inclusion of abortion in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. There were 78 votes in favor and 40 against.

The motion stresses that the European Union has no competence to impose abortion on its member nations and expresses concern about the repeated efforts of the European Parliament to interfere in the sovereignty of member states.

The position of the Slovak Parliament is a response to a resolution of the European Parliament, adopted in April this year, which calls for the inclusion of abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and which was pushed by Emmanuel Macron, President of France.

Article 2 of the Charter of Rights states that “everyone has the right to life” and that “no one shall be condemned to the death penalty or executed”.

A change to this fundamental document would only be possible if all 27 member states were to unanimously express their support for the initiative in the Council of Europe, so the Slovak motion constitutes a formal obstacle to that process.