Brussels, 10 December 2013
Today, Tuesday 10 December, the European Parliament rejected the highly controversial Report on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights presented by Portugese MEP Edite Estrela.
The vote is truly a victory for EU citizens. Their voices were stronger than those of the lobbies that supported the report. A massive mobilisation of citizens across Europe showed that each citizen can make a change!
Indeed the text was interfering in areas such as parental rights, sexual education, human dignity and freedom of conscience as outlined in the analysis of the text, presented by the European Federation of Catholic Family Associations (FAFCE).None of which are EU competency.
In an open letter to the MEPs prior to the vote Antoine Renard, President of FAFCE, stated:
“The European institutions do not benefit from much popularity among the citizens in the Member States and that can only evolve through the behaviour of those who are democratically elected to represent the citizens. The interests of lobby groups such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation seem to explain this lack of procedural respect, not the primary interest of the peoples of our continent. (…) This report is not worthy of the European Union, it is not worthy of the citizens of the EU.”
FAFCE greets the vote that is an expression of citizens’ voices in favour of human dignity, a fundamental right in the EU.
