Cóir has described the attempt by Swedish politicians to use the Lisbon Treaty to call for the legalization of abortion in Ireland as “profoundly undemocratic but very revealing”.

The pro-sovereignty organization said that the move by the Swedish campaigners would unsettle Irish voters who were being told by the Irish government that EU politicians were unconcerned with Ireland’s ban on abortion. “We’re constantly being told by the Irish government that the EU has no interest in our social laws, but this development shows that politicians in EU member states want to use EU law – including the Lisbon Treaty – to attack Ireland’s pro-life ethos,” said Richard Greene of Cóir. “This comes just months after the EU Parliament voted in favour of the Catania report which was based on the Charter of Rights attached to the Lisbon Treaty and called for the introduction of abortion and same-sex marriage.”

Mr Greene was responding to a campaign launched by Birgitta Ohlsson of the Swedish Liberal party, who is attempting to use the Lisbon treaty to have abortion recognised as a human right throughout the EU. Ms Ohlsson described Ireland’s abortion laws as “medieval and terrifying”, and has launched a group called Make Noise for Free Choice which plans to obtain the 1m signatures required for its demands to be considered by the European commission under the terms of the citizens initiative proposed under the new EU treaty.

The campaign Ohlsson was highly critical of Ireland’s pro-life stance and wants to use the EU to put pressure on the Irish government.

Cóir said that the campaign displayed a “contempt for democracy which is the hallmark of abortion campaigners who wish to change the law against the wishes of the majority of the people.”


Source: Cóir


[BACK TO NEWS HEADLINES]