ROME, APRIL 5, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Last week the European Dignity Watch launched its new report on funding of abortion through EU tax payer’s money. The report shows: although it’s neither an EU competence nor backed by EU law, the European Commission collaborates closely and in numerous projects with the two world’s largest abortion providers: International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes International.
The objective of this report is to document how IPPF and MSI have been receiving, and continue to receive funding from the European Union’s Development Aid and Public Health budgets for projects related to “sexual and reproductive health” (SRH).
The term “sexual and reproductive health” as defined by the EU excludes abortion explicitly.
Both organizations, however, are known to consider abortion to be a core service related to “sexual and reproductive health” – a service which they have made it their mission to offer on a large scale worldwide.
“This raises questions”, says Sophia Kuby, Executive Director of European Dignity Watch: “Are the EU’s budgets for Development Aid and Public Health used to finance abortions in developing countries? Is this attributable to negligence, or is it done deliberately? If done deliberately: is this legal? If a result of negligence: what are the consequences for such a misuse of European budgets and what could be done to prevent such misuse in the future?”
These and more questions were raised March 27 at the European Parliament and several MEPs offered their support to get the European Commission to answer them and stop controversial and unlawful funding on a policy area where there is neither competence nor consensus.
“This is a misuse of tax payer’s money and we are determined to hold the European Commission accountable for it”, concludes Kuby.
The public event was part of the “Week for Life” and was organized by MEP Konrad Szymanski and co-organised by MEPs Anna Zaborska, Gay Mitchell, Jan Olbrycht, Nirj Deva, Martin Kastler as well as COMECE. MEPs and the audience followed with great interest and attention the presentation of the findings of more than one year of research. The report titled The Funding of Abortion Through EU Development Aid – An Analysis of EU’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy provides an in-depths analysis of the legal limitations of the EU to fund abortion, compares it with the aggressive pro-abortion agendas of both IPPF and MSI and provides figures and numbers of numerous projects carried out by these organizations and funded by the European Commission.
The report is available in English here.
