The ball to future Parliament ” “

Putting it in football terminology the situation of the One of Us campaign after the public hearing at the European Parliament on Thursday April 10 is the following: the (preparatory) tests have been carried out, and successfully so. 1.721.509 valid signatures were collected across 28 European Countries. The European Commission acknowledged that a consistent number of EU citizens, belonging to different faiths and from different cultural backgrounds, convene that the financing of medical and scientific research envisioning the destruction and the manipulation of the human embryo must end. The equally demand to ban aid to development initiatives that entail the destruction of human embryos among recipient populations. Notably, promoters call upon Europe to recognize the full dignity of the human embryo, with adequate protection at all level, starting with health. The No-embryo front has already taken the field. It would be too good to be true if all these things could happen as if by miracle, given the success of “One of Us”. But unfortunately that will not be the case. We had direct perception of it during four hours of public hearing in Brussels, in one of the Parliament halls where over 200 representatives of One of Us from all corners of the continent had gathered. Near them, dozens of loud, aggressive “opponents” against One of Us brandished placards and signs calling for ‘free abortion here and in developing Countries’, against limitations to scientific research on embryo stem cells. Evidently, the secularist front got the drift of the revolutionary scope of this European initiative, understood the great symbolic and idealistic value that brought together Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Jews and simple citizens with no particular affiliation, who identify with the theme of the new life and the opposition to its manipulation. Thus protestors took the field with the support of MEPs who rejected the invitation of their pro-embryo colleagues to undertake a joint reflection on its protection, recognizing its dignity at juridical and legislative level. What is financed with “reproductive healthcare”. Highlighting the political relevance of contemporary ethical questions, the European representative of One of Us Patrick Gregor Puppinck, spoke of a “public testimony on the value of human life” confiding in “the democratic feature of European institutions”. Theoretically there should be no need, given the freedom principle on which the community realm is based upon. This was not the case re representatives of the secularist front, who used bitter and denigrating words against the signatories of the One of Us petition in their speeches from the podium. The spoke of “severe obscurantism” of Catholic nature, a retrograde vision aimed at denying woman’s right to self-determination. But the matter at stake – said MEP Carlo Casini, President of the Italian pro-life movement, “is not the contrast between mother and child, but the mere recognition on the part of the institutions that the human embryo is a human being, a potential citizen in his/her own right, that deserves to be treated, respected and protected as such”. The address by Sophia Kuby, at the head of “European Dignity Watch”, was interesting and “trenchant” for the supporters of development-funding “reproductive health” projects. In her speech she gave a snapshot of Europe’s funding of “reproductive health” campaigns, and mentioned NGOs and bodies that admitted receiving European grants for practices which for mere discretion were not called abortion, or sterilization, or other anti-natality terms. Genetic hybrids, offspring of more than two parents. Using the football terminology of the opening phrases, after the public hearing “the ball is now in the future Parliament’s court”. Nothing is going to happen until May, given the upcoming European elections. The executive Commission, which has got until May 28, could express itself, but its mandate expires next fall. The new Parliament will thus inherit the results of a sort of popular referendum that provide a precise indication of widespread popular will, reaffirmed by several MEPs who underlined that the “embryo” is not an “object” subject to manipulation. Indeed, there are many reasons for alarm: Josephine Quintavalle, One of Us representative from the UK, told SIR she is “gravely concerned for what is happening in the United Kingdom. A law is going to be approved allowing for the creation of embryos with more than two parents, bringing genetic material from a third party. Unfortunately, it has been hard to involve the British and make them understand the importance of ‘One of Us’. In fact, concern for these future “hybrid” subjects of Her Majesty the Queen should be extended to all the peoples of Europe, because the cultural and ethical drift on these matters is far from reassuring throughout Europe including Italy.