Signatures fall across Europe

Make way to imagination. The action undertaken across Europe for the citizens’ initiative "One of us" promoted varied and often original forms of signature-collection to endorse the proposal for the protection of the human embryo in all EU policies. All EU Member State have experienced – or are on the point of doing so – public demonstrations, cultural and media events, encounters with the youth and public celebrations to promote the underlying message of the initiative: to reach one million signatures across 7 Member Countries to submit a request of one or more legal actions aimed at the defense of life from the moment of conception. Online and in the streets. A citizens’ initiative is a tool for participatory democracy. It is an invitation to the European Commission to propose legislation on matters where the EU has competence to legislate. The initiative was launched a year ago (it was undertaken April 1st 2012). "One of us" (www.oneofus.eu) is among the first initiatives submitted, supported by dozens of pro-life movements across the continent. Based on the definition of the "human embryo as the beginning of the development of the human being", contained in a ruling by the EU Court of Justice, "One of Us" asks the EU "to end the financing of activities which presuppose the destruction of human embryos, in particular in the areas of research, development aid and public health". Anne Fleck responsible of One of Us – Austria, said: "We’re seeking efficient ways to collect signatures, but it’s not easy. In fact, it’s hard to find coverage on the lay press. Moreover, although the signature-collection was launched only recently, we collected already 4thousand signatures through the Internet and 700 on paper". "We also launched a campaign on Facebook to reach a larger audience" of social network users. Bulgaria, France, Belgium… Ivaylo Tinchev is responsible for the campaign in Bulgaria: "No pro-life movement has been actively engaged in our country before", he said. "We managed to collect signatures, seeking to draw media attention. We are planning to carry out initiatives at local level in April" and "we intend to create a network of One of Us groups based in the major cities of the country". National coordinators are also tasked with "extending the field of action, not limiting ourselves to the confessional realm only". The situation is different in France, also because a few days ago Parliament submitted a legislative proposal to carry out research on embryo stem cells and on the embryo. "In my country we started campaigning for One of Us only in March", said Caroline Roux, coordinator for France, "also because there were urgent issues that needed to be addressed such as the question of the Taubira bill" regulating same-gender marriage, which was the object of a widely-attended demonstration. "But from now on we intend to focus on signature collection. We gathered 4 thousand to date". Over the next days, with other national coordinators, Roux took part in the "Week for Life" campaign held in Brussels. Now she intends to resume her commitment at local level. Matthieu Bruynseels, responsible for the One of Us campaign in Belgium, said: "the signature collection continues, even though for us the commitment is complex, all the material and the website needs to be translated into French and Flemish. We’re planning to cooperate with Catholic universities in the Country, so as to have quality material in support of the initiative". A "March of Life" took place in Belgium on March 24.From Germany to Lithuania. Manfred Libner from Germany said: "We collected 10 thousand signatures until now, of which 7 thousand online. We’re under the impression that people want more information on the citizens’ initiative". Legislation in Ireland bans pregnancy interruption, John Brown, national coordinator, pointed out. "We are aware of international pressure to adopt an abortionist law in our country. But we’re asking our government to resist. We want to preserve our pro-life position", he added. From Lithuania Vytautas Kersanskas made known that as many as 6thousand signatures were collected on paper and 700 online. In the Baltic country street demonstrations are preferred. "At the beginning there were technical problems for the deposit of signatures through the website", as reported also by the coordinators of other European States. "Now the problem has been overcome. The Bishops’ Conference supports us and allows us to collect signatures also in churches".