RU 11/2006 - USA, SLOVAKIA

- USA. A thunder clap: the Governor of South Dakota, Mike Rounds, promulgated on March 7th the law No. 1215 forbidding in his State abortion in all forms, including after incest and rape, in perfect contradiction with the national legislation which, since the ignoble verdict "Roe vs. Wade" of the Supreme Court of 1973, legalizes the murder of the babies before birth. Mike Rounds, 52, fervent Catholic, 4 children, is Governor of South Dakota (760,000 inhabitants) since 2002. He is a strong defender of life and family: "In the history of the world, the true criterion to judge a civilization, it is to see how it treats the more vulnerable and resourceless ones". The new law punishes physicians by 5 years of jail and 5000 dollars of fine for every "abortion crime". It will come into force in July 2006, unless the Family Planning of America (PPFA) brings the matter to the Supreme Court. The Planning already declared: "We are ready to use all legal means at our disposal to prevent the coming into force of this law!" The battle will be rough, it is right from the beginning a national issue interesting all Americans. It is known that their majority is now pro-life, including president Bush. Already the State of Mississippi, with four times more population, prepares a similar law. On top of that, at the Supreme Court, with 9 judges, the previous abortionist majority has just been reversed by the nomination of 2 pro-life judges, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. Both are practicing Catholics. Nothing is anymore fundamentally opposite to the reversing of the deathsmelling verdict of 1973. It surely will take some months - or years? - of procedures and legal battles, but the abrogation is henceforth likely. The countdown has begun; already the European abortionists start trembling; finally the babies will also have access to the supreme gift which we all received from the Creator, LIFE, but that too many men and women take egoistically away from the small and vulnerable ones, preferred by God. It's necessary to pray, the signs of the time are right there. - (ru; cf. FC March 18)

- SLOVAKIA: In Europe, too, the battle about Life begins to rage, making even fall governments. In Slovakia the ruling center right coalition recently exploded on a disagreement over the question of the conscience clause considered as an obstacle to the "right of abortion". The origin of the problem is the Concordat, duly signed with the Holy See in 2002 and entered into force in 2005; this document requires the liberty of conscience, particularly for the personnel of health, "because of the right of everyone to obey to his conscience in accordance with the doctrinal and moral principles of the Catholic Church." The "catholic" Prime Minister ", Mikulas Dzurinda, of the lukewarm right party SDKU (Democratic Christian Slovak Union), initially favorable to the "right of conscience" objection, finally prevented its adoption, thus triggering a major political crisis since February 6th, 2006. According to the Prime Minister, this clause "risked to give a too important weight to the Catholic Church in the secular decision process...". Some people even pointed at the emergence of a dangerous "Catholic pole" in the European East, including Slovakia (70 % of Catholics) and Poland (90 % of Catholics). Already on December 15th 2005, the European Union, by the voice of an "independent" investigation committee of the European Commission about the Vatican-Slovakian Concordat, had criticized this document, saying that "it would severely rape some fundamental rights like the rights of abortion, homosexual marriage, euthanasia and contraception". This committee of experts of the E.U. required that the Concordat include guarantees on "the rights and the access of women to contraception and abortion", nothing less than that! With which right do they introduce themselves into this issue, as the Union - by definition - doesn't have to interfere in moral issues of its member countries? It is a fact that the present Slovakian Government is afraid of the abortionist Europe: "We want to do everything, so that Slovakia doesn't lose his renown and its image", exclaimed the Prime Minister. In clear terms, he doesn't want to see Slovakia despised by the majority movement in the 25 member countries of the E.U., in favour of the "right of women to abortion". There also, like in the U.S., the battle started, and this one immediately takes its true supranational proportion, because it's a moral issue. The president of the Slovakian Parliament, Pavol Hrusovsky, as well as three ministers resigned, making thus implode the Government; the parliament has been dissolved; anticipated legislative elections are announced for next June 17th, instead of September 2006. There also, let's pray; the signs of the time are there. And long live Catholic Slovakia! - (ru; cf. MY Feb. 19, LM Feb 25)