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CV NEWS FEED // A feminist-backed initiative in the European Union that seeks to legalize “abortion tourism” is actually a highly illegal operation to undermine EU treaties and national legislation of individual countries, a former Minister and European Commissioner for Health recently wrote in a commentary article for the European Conservative.
Tonio Borg, who is also a law professor and the president of the EU pro-life organization One of Us, wrote that the “My Voice, My Choice” initiative asks the EU to allow pregnant women from pro-life countries to travel to more pro-abortion nations to obtain abortions. According to the overview of the initiative as enrolled by the European Citizens’ Initiative, it asks the European Commission to submit a proposal for countries to receive financial support for providing abortions.
“Our initiative does not aim to harmonise nor interfere with the laws and regulations of Member States, but rather falls under the supporting competence of the EU, in accordance with the rules set up by the European treaties,” it reads.
However, Borg said that the initiative uses “European institutions to circumvent national law” and violates subsidiarity.
“As a former European Commissioner for Health, I’m well placed to know that health is precisely a matter for the Member States: indeed, the Union has always been keen to respect the profoundly sensitive ethical dimension associated with health issues,” he wrote. “To stealthily delegate such delicate matters to EU institutions would be to leave room for an abuse of power: we should be vigilant against administrative machines that rob us of our freedom to think and act!”
Borg added that the initiative was just vague enough to gain support — more than the required 1 million signatures — and be enrolled as an official initiative without seeming to undermine any laws. However, it interferes with individual nations’ ability to establish legislation.
“It would be unacceptable for the European Union to circumvent, undermine and thwart national political choices in this way,” he stated. “The Commission cannot contradict head-on the legitimate choices of each Member State in the highly sensitive area of protecting unborn human life.”
Borg also noted that 1.9 million EU citizens — more than the 1.2 million who signed the pro-abortion initiative — signed an initiative in 2014 to stop the EU from funding activities that result in the destruction of human embryos. Despite having a budget that was only one-fifth the size of the pro-abortion initiative, it was more successful; however, the initiative remained in limbo after the Commission did not carry it through.
One of Us has also started a petition to oppose the pro-abortion initiative, which more than 50 leaders across Europe, including doctors, politicians, and some NGO chairmen, have signed.
