STRASBOURG, France (LifeSiteNews) — A heated debate broke out in the European Parliament over a pro-life banner displayed by members of the conservative ECR group.
The banner showed an unborn baby and the slogan “It’s a life, not a choice.”
During the Plenary Session of the Parliament on Thursday in Strasbourg, two MEPs raised the issue of a pro-life banner erected by members of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR).
French parliamentarian from The Left in the European Parliament group, Manon Aubry, gave an emotional speech, calling the killing of the unborn in the womb a “right” that the “far right” wants to take away from women.
”This morning, the ECR group, only men, of course, showed the banner with a fetus and an anti-abortion slogan on it,” Aubry said.
“ The far right shows again today their true face. You want to return to a society in which women cannot decide on their bodies. It’s a clear attack against abortion rights.”
“Whether you like it or not, our Parliament, the majority of this Parliament has [voted in favor of the] ‘My Voice, My Choice’ initiative less than two months ago. Because in countries where abortion is banned, like in Poland, women still die. Because our mothers, our grandmothers have been fighting for this right,” she shouted.
“So, Madam President, this is not acceptable. And the right to abortion is not just a choice, it’s a right and we’ll never leave the far right to take it away from us,” she concluded.
NOW – EU Parliament members get heated over a banner displayed by the ECR group that had “an anti-abortion slogan on it.” pic.twitter.com/PXCgFKW8sz
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Dutch MEP from the liberal Renew faction, Raquel Garcia Hermida-van der Walle, chimed in to also complain about the banner, saying, “We have had already two plenary sessions when banners, including this one that we have seen today, have been hung without permission, infringing the rules of procedure of this house.”
“And I will go into the message because this banner that six or seven boys have hung out here is directed to intimidate and scare the women of this house and beyond.”
“ So I would like this house to take action and the president to take action,” she concluded.
READ: European bishops’ conference condemns EU push for state-funded abortion
A member of the ECR group responded to pro-abortion MEPs by stating, “I would like to inform the colleagues that as part of this action, there were also women [who participated in hanging the banner]. And I would also like to inform colleagues that this is the European Parliament, not Iran, and there is freedom of expression.”
“Let me remind you that the Left group last week put up a post or a banner,” he said, addressing the perceived hypocrisy of only protesting pro-life banners.
Whenever the issue of abortion comes up in the European Parliament, the debates are usually very heated. Since left-wing parties hold a majority together with the nominally conservative, but in practice liberal, European People’s Party (EPP), pro-abortion motions are usually accepted.
In December last year, the European Parliament approved the European Citizens’ Initiative, “My Voice, My Choice.” It calls on the European Commission to create a legal framework for an EU fund that member states which choose to participate in it could use to provide “safe access” to women who lack the financial means to obtain an abortion.