European Parliament Poised to Go Further on Abortion, Warns Dana

STRASBOURG, France, JULY 5, 2002 (ZENIT.org-Avvenire).- The European Parliament overstepped its authority in approving a pro-abortion report on Wednesday -- and it may not stop there, warns member Rosemary Scallon.

Scallon, better known as Dana the popular singer, commented on the report adopted by the Parliament by a vote of 280-240. The report seeks to impose abortion in countries of the European Union and applicant nations.

Q: A difference of 40 votes is a greater defeat than expected.

Scallon: Yes, without a doubt the approval of this resolution is negative, but in this way what is happening in Europe, with lobbies that try to impose a very specific agenda, becomes evident. Because of this, I think one must point out the step back taken by the [European] Commission, as voiced by commissar David Byrne, who affirmed that abortion, the morning-after pill and sexual education are matters of competence of each one of the states.

Q: The statement comes too late, as the harm is already done.

Scallon: Yes, it's true, but this evidences the Commission's difficult situation, which has expressed the strong protests on the part of some accession countries and now fears that the van Lancker resolution [based on the Report on Sexual and Reproductive Rights] might stop negotiations on the Union's extension.

Q: Nevertheless, how is it possible that the European Commission says one thing and the European Parliament another?

Scallon: The problem is that the European Parliament has no right to pronounce itself on these matters; it is committing abuses, but no state has ever protested. So the assembly continues to arrogate to itself a power that is not within its competence.

Q: Are you saying that the EU is in the hands of lobbies that no one controls?

Scallon: No, the possibility of control exists, if there is a will to use this power. The principle of subsidiarity is at the base of the European Union; hence, governments and institutions can intervene to halt eventual abuses. But if this power is not used, control does not exist, and lobbies take advantage.

On this matter, however, the role of civil society is also very important, because the Euro-deputies must respond to their own electors and if the electorate does not give any sign of life, it is very easy for the deputy on his own to give way to pressures that come from Strasbourg and Brussels.

Q: You speak of lobbies in action, which indicates that the van Lancker resolution is not an isolated case.

Scallon: No. This is only a stage. There are other reports and resolutions that are coming up, which refer to the funding of abortion services in developing countries and the evolution of the concept of the family. Autumn will be hot.

Q: But what is the final objective of these lobbies?

Scallon: There is certainly an attempt to include the right to kill among human rights, whether it be of conceived children or sick elderly people. And, through a certain view of sexual education, which provides for the availability of contraceptives for children and adolescents, without parental consent, the state is trying to come between children and parents, to destroy the family.

It must be very clear: I do not judge the people who often act in good faith and think they are defending woman's rights, but the policy that is being followed, is leading Europe to deny itself.