A letter from Catholic bishops around Europe has criticised a bullying European Union resolution condemning Poland’s new abortion law that outlawed abortion in the case of disability.
The EU resolution was passed 455-145 last November after Poland banned almost all abortion in October, as SPUC reported on at the time.
Following the resolution, European Catholic bishops decried the “very negative impact” that the EU’s statement would have on nations, especially Poland, a pro-life Catholic country where abortion is banned except in cases of rape, incest or risk to a mother’s life.
The bishops said that “we wish to underline that neither European Union legislation nor the European Convention on Human Rights provide for a right to abortion. This matter is left up to the legal systems of the member states.”
They continued by adding that the EU was bound by their own laws to show “respect for the competences of the member states and the choices made by them in the exercise of their exclusive competences”.
Moreover, the EU resolution brought the right to conscientious objection into doubt, even though “the European Union Charter entails the need to respect national constitutional traditions and the development of national legislation on the issue”.
That the EU appeared to contradict its own Charter was “particularly worrying considering that in the healthcare sector conscientious objectors are in many cases subject to discrimination. In our view, such unjust stigmatization should not be promoted.”
Furthermore, the bishops “noted with sadness that no condemnation or solidarity was expressed in the text with regard to the unacceptable attacks on churches and places of worship in the context of protests related to this law in Poland”.
Last October, violence by pro-abortion protesters was directed towards Catholics in particular, including attacks on priests and statues, as well as the disruption of Masses.
“SPUC stands with Poland”
Michael Robinson, SPUC Director of Communications, said: “The EU’s pro-abortion bias was clear in their resolution against brave Poland’s stand for life.
“Unfortunately, international, transnational organisations around the world have unjustly attempted to bully such pro-life nations as Poland – Honduras is another example.
“What is more, Poland is a democratic country. The EU must respect the rule of law and democracy in Poland.
“The Catholic bishops were quite right to call out the overreach of this hypocritical EU resolution.
“SPUC stands with Poland.”