“From the Church’s point of view, it is unacceptable”. This is how Father Manuel Barrios Prieto, Secretary-General of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), describes the vote that will take place next Thursday in the European Parliament on a motion for a resolution on the inclusion of the right to abortion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. “It is unacceptable for various reasons”, the priest explains. “First of all, because the promotion of women, of women’s rights and freedoms, is always confused with the promotion of abortion. These are two completely different things, and we work for a Europe where being a mother does not mean a problem for one’s professional, social, and personal life. The two areas of promoting women and promoting abortion cannot be confused, as sometimes happens”. “Secondly – Fr Prieto goes on to say – abortion cannot be seen as a right. The fundamental right is the right to life. The Bishops refer to the new Declaration by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith “Dignitas Infinita” on the “infinite dignity” of the human being. From the very moment of conception to natural death, this dignity of the human person is inviolable and sacred”. There are also other arguments that the Bishops put forward to show that the vote is “groundless”, such as the fact that the Charter of Fundamental Rights in its Preamble refers to “the duty of the European Union to respect the different legal and constitutional traditions and cultures of the different countries. Some parts of the European Union cannot impose a certain ideology, a certain way of seeing the human being and sexuality, on others. It is no surprise that it is Eastern countries, historically subjected to ideological imposition, who now react strongly to another ideological imposition that comes from Western countries”. Finally, the Bishops call for the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights to “include rights recognised by all, not to impose divisive rights. This makes no sense at all”. The Statement of the EU Bishops therefore goes in this direction: “to show that this motion for a resolution is groundless and that we shall go back to the fundamental and founding values of the European Union”.