In place of the United States” “

The rapporteur of the new “Regulation on support for policies and actions concerning reproductive and sexual hygiene and connected rights in the developing countries” to the European Parliament’s Commission for development and cooperation is a Protestant woman pastor”. She is Ulla Margrethe Sandbaek , 59 years old, Danish, a graduate in theology, Protestant pastor, member of the political group “Europe of Democrats and Differences” (the so-called “eurosceptic” group). We interviewed her. How do you evaluate this draft Regulation and how do you plan to treat it in your report? “In spite of the fact that many are claiming the opposite, this Regulation does not drastically modify the current regulation. As is by now clear to everyone, the ‘objectives of the Millennium’ cannot be achieved without a precise safeguard of sexual and reproductive rights. I want to remain committed to the path traced by the Cairo Conference on population and development in 1994 and also to draw on the existing regulation. I don’t want to be needlessly provocative. However, I don’t see any threats of this kind: the regulation speaks of rights, of services that are lacking and that must be provided, though starting out from the ban on legalized abortion in any case. The fact is that every half hour a woman dies in the world of diseases linked to reproduction and sexuality: my intention is as far as possibile to ‘civilize’ this area”. Can you give us one or two examples? “Let me give one example: if there are health services that work, a woman who has undergone an ‘unsafe’ abortion and who has perhaps contracted a disease as a result may go to qualified centres and find skilled personnel who can provide advice on how to prevent diseases, or unwanted pregnancies, and on how to assume ‘responsible behaviour’ in the field of reproductive and sexual hygiene. It’s no secret that in African society women cannot refuse to have unprotected sexual relations. They often breast-feed their babies, knowing full well that they are sieropositive, but don’t dare give them artificial milk for fear of breaking tabus. It’s to address these problems that we must provide services”. Do you share Catholic concerns about the new Regulation? “I’m a pastor. I follow the teachings of the Gospel and try to apply them. The Gospel speaks of love and charity, it does not ask us to judge. We must show love and compassion without judging others. Moreover, and just for the same reasons, both cultural and social, sexual relations between spouses also kill millions of people throughout the world due to lack of proper hygiene and healthcare. We must come to terms with the facts of life: what’s important is to create services that reduce to the minimum the risks of mortality and disease, using a language that is already internationally accepted. I consider this a duty”. How do you evaluate the policy of the European Union that aims to replace the USA in the funding of “family planning” measures in the developing countries? “The withdrawal of the USA from the international agencies for demographic problems in the developing countries will have very grave consequences. We risk having millions of dead, who could have had a better destiny if aid were to have been provided. At this point, we Europeans must try to help those to live who don’t even have the means of survival today. The executive Commission too has contacted personalities throughout the world, inviting them to become ‘goodwill ambassadors’ in this sector. The Union is already engaged in a humanitarian mission against time; the new Regulation is perhaps no more than a drop in the ocean, but it can help save the lives of millions of women and children”.