Europe’s top body of bishops has condemned the European Parliament’s favourable vote Thursday, July 7, on a resolution calling for access to abortion to be included in the E.U. Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The resolution, titled, “European Parliament resolution on the US Supreme Court decision to overturn abortion rights in the United States and the need to safeguard abortion rights and women’s heath in the EU,” also condemns the United States’ Supreme Court’s decision last month to overturn legislation protecting federal abortion rights.
The resolution was adopted with 324 votes in favour, 155 against, and 38 abstentions.
In a July 8 statement, Father Manuel Barrios Prieto, General Secretary of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), voiced regret for the resolution, which he said, “paves the way for a deviation from universally recognized human rights and misrepresents the tragedy of abortion for mothers in difficulties.”