BRUSSELS (LSN.ca) – The European Parliament (EP) voted March 13 to adopt a radical feminist resolution that attacks pro-life religious beliefs and Christianity. The report on “Women and Fundamentalism” was first proposed in October 2001 by María Izquierdo Rojo and was unsuccessfully challenged in the EP by Ireland Independent MEP Mrs. Dana Rosemary Scallon among others. The document with minor revisions was adopted narrowly by a vote of 242-240 with 42 abstentions.
A copy of the document as adopted was sent to LifeSite by Eva Bacelar, a press secretary for the EP. The adopted resolution reveals that despite efforts to cut reprehensible statements from the resolution or to ban it altogether, numerous problematic articles were accepted.
Scallon warned that article 4 of the resolution could be used to oblige the Catholic Church to ordain women. Nonetheless, article 4 was not amended and thus the EP “condemns the administrations of religious organisations and the leaders of extremist political movements who promote racial discrimination, xenophobia, fanaticism and the exclusion of women from leading positions in the political and religious hierarchy.”
In a preamble section of the document, the EP admits they are “deploring the interference of the Churches and religious communities in the public and political life of the state, in particular when such interference is designed to restrict human rights and fundamental freedoms, for instance in the sexual or reproductive sphere.” A related Article of concern for Scallon in the report was a section which could prevent countries which protect the unborn child from joining the European Union. Article 23 says the EP “Insists that the Commission ensure that in negotiations for accession, cooperation or association agreements the Community 'acquis' in the field of women's rights is upheld.”
While amendments to the original document removed a specific reference demanding the Pope and the Romanian Patriarch “to change their attitudes towards” lesbians, the adopted version “Expresses its support for the difficult situation of lesbians who suffer from fundamentalism.” It defines “fundamentalism” as a concept which “originated in the 1920s in the USA, where it primarily referred to Christianity” which “was characterised by extreme obedience to dogma, which was interpreted literally and placed above the law of the state and human rights.”
Article 31 of the resolution says the EP “Calls on all believers of whatever creed to promote equal rights for women, including the right to control their own bodies and the right to decide when to have families of their own, their lifestyles and their personal relationships; calls on the Member States to adopt legislation to outlaw any practice which endangers the physical or mental integrity and health of women.”
With another article of the resolution the EP seeks to restrict religious freedom to make it subject to United Nations conventions. Article 29 says the EP “calls on the Member States to remain neutral vis-à-vis the various religious creeds, to retain their secular character, ensuring a complete division of responsibilities between Church and State, and to abolish any legal and practical obstacles to the performance of religious duties and the use of religious symbols, insofar as religious precepts are compatible with national legislation, the rule of law and international conventions.”
Euro-Fam, a pro-family group which monitors the EP and EU advises that rapports of the European Parliament are simple recommendations but they influence later votes and judicial decisions.
See the EP release on the resolution's passage and the full resolution here.
A copy of the final adopted resolution is available by request from LifeSite at LSN@lifesite.net.
(This update courtesy of LifeSite News.)