[Episcopal News Service]
Church leaders have reacted with concern to a European Parliament report calling on member states and candidate members of the European Union (EU) to ease access to abortion and contraception.
In a vote that could anger many church leaders, the parliament in Strasbourg adopted a report on July 3 calling for abortion to be made 'legal, safe and accessible to all,' and for the 'morning-after' pill to be sold cheaply in all EU countries.
The document, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, also urges the establishment of medical centers for women undergoing abortions, and demands equal access for all citizens to 'high-quality' contraceptive methods.
But whatever political pressure an EU parliamentary vote on abortion or contraception may bring to bear on member states, it remains advisory in nature, and not legally binding on any EU country. The report itself acknowledges this limitation, stating that 'legal or regulatory policy concerning reproductive health' is a matter for individual EU member states.
Richard Fischer, Strasbourg-based executive secretary of the Conference of European Churches' Church and Society Commission, urged church members to keep the parliamentary report in perspective and not to 'exaggerate the significance' of the vote. The conference groups more than 120 churches, mostly Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox.
'Religious affairs, like education and culture, are matters of national sovereignty under EU rules,' Fischer said.
But even if abortion and contraception lay outside the legislative competence of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), Fischer regretted that the report could be 'misunderstood' in countries seeking EU membership as an 'attempt to dictate moral codes.'
'Most churches lack sufficient knowledge of how European institutions work,' he said.
The report comes at a sensitive time for the EU, when up to 10 countries, most of them from post-communist eastern Europe, are negotiating to join the union starting in January 2004. Several of these countries have strict abortion laws, and any discussion of the subject is likely to be inflammatory.
CEC's general secretary, Keith Clements, said opinions on abortion differed 'between and within' European churches, and CEC would not seek a 'collective position' on the controversy.
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