Life and family above all

Protection of life in every instant, real supports for childbirth, and legislative interventions in favour of the family: the "Week for Life" held in Brussels from 26 to 29 March provided a forum for MEPs of various political groups, experts, representatives of associations and NGOs, churches, universities and the media, round the promotion of human life. The initiative, supported by COMECE (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community), ended with a meeting of the pro-life movements of 21 countries and with the launch of a "Citizens’ Initiative", i.e. the collection of a million signatures to ask the European Commission for draft laws and actions that defend the human being.Collection of signatures throughout the EU. The imitative presented in the closing session of the Week for Life is called "One of us", meaning thereby that "the unborn child is a person like any other, with equal rights". The citizens’ initiative is a means of grassroots consultation, determined by the Lisbon Treaty, thanks to which a million Europeans, of at least 7 different countries, can ask the Commission to advance a legislative proposal in the sectors that fall within the EU’s competence, as defined by the same treaty. The aim of "One of us" – explained its promoters – is to "request one or more legislative acts aimed at defending life ever since its conception". The citizens’ initiative comes into force for the first time on 1st April: that’s why the pro-life movements gathered in Brussels discussed the creation of a promoting committee, preliminary to the drafting of the proposal to be presented to the Commission and the collection of signatures. Carlo Casini, chairman of the constitutional affairs committee of the European Parliament, explained: "The citizens’ initiative is a good opportunity established by the Lisbon Treaty to give a voice to civil society and fill the democratic deficit of the Union". Together with the collection of signatures, citizens will be asked among other things to lend their support to the promotion of a form of scientific research, through EU funds, that "does not destroy human life". The organizations that came to the European Parliament for the meeting reviewed the legislation in their respective states and shared good practices for the protection of the human being in every moment of life. The many shared experiences at the meeting include for instance: the financial aid that in Germany is made accessible by the Mother and Child – Protection of Unborn Life Foundation for women who complete their pregnancy; the right in Luxembourg for couples with children below the age of 13 to have a number of hours of free assistance for childhood; and the right in France for families with at least three children to a discount card that provides them with access to various discounts in daily household expenses. Medical treatments, reproductive health. As regards the other days of the Week for Life, the main issue discussed on 26 March was the campaign to reduce tumours and the role of palliative care. Bernard Thill, director of the Centre for Palliative Care in Luxembourg, pointed out that "the priority aim of these medical practices is the achievement of the best possible quality of life for patients and their families". To the specific therapies for the treatment of cancer "should be added a psychological, social and spiritual support: these, together with medical therapy, constitute the four fundamental pillars of palliative care. On 27 March attention was focused on "sexual and reproductive health", especially with reference to the developing countries. According to MEP Konrad Szymanski, European policies in this sector are "ambiguous". The problem "consists in the definition of reproductive right" as formulated during the Cairo Conference in 1994 and the World Women’s Conference in Beijing in 1995. The concept expressed in this way "is – according to Szymanski – subject to multiple interpretations". For this reason Jose Ramos Ascencão, on behalf of the COMECE Bioethics Group, urged that the European Parliament "abstain from using such terms in official documents of the EU and indeed that it ought to vote against its use [that of reproductive right], and, if that were not possible, steps should be taken to ensure that the practice of abortion is clearly excluded from it". Research and ethical principles. Scientific research must respect life: that’s the key message that emerged from the session of 28 March, when some fifty experts listened to the reports of Professors Colin McGuckin (Cell Therapy Research Institute in Lyon) and Gregor Puppinck (in video conference from the European Centre for Law and Justice in Strasbourg). Two MEPs opened the session: the Slovak Miroslav Mikolasik, chairman of the intergroup on bioethics at the European Parliament, and the German Peter Liese, physician and expert on genetics. Many questions were debated, ranging from research on embryonic cells to the allocations of the future Horizon 2020 framework programme which, as many delegates underlined, "must abstain from funding research and experiments" on stem cells, as indicated by the jurisprudence of the European Court in Luxembourg.