The report “Women and Fundamentalism,” presented by Spanish Socialist deputy María Izquierdo, was approved by a vote of 242-240. There were 42 abstentions.
Europarliamentarians either modified or eliminated some of the more controversial points of the report, such as the request to religious leaders, including John Paul II and Eastern patriarchs, to change their views on lesbianism.
The “right to control one´s own body,” regarded by some groups as a justification of abortion, was also eliminated from the text. Vatican Radio described the text as “controversial” and of “secular stamp.”
European bishops sent a letter to the European Socialists´ Party, which supported the report, saying the document is “contradictory and inadequate,” because, in part, it does not differentiate “between religious fundamentalism and the normal practice of religion.”
