While introducing the French Presidency of the European Union (FPEU), which began on January 1, the French president Mr Emmanuel Macron outlined the promise of a “humane Europe”, announced a debate on Europe’s values, and marked its desire to develop participatory democracy.
Thierry de la Villejégu, Director of the Jérôme Lejeune foundation,Vice-President of the ONE OF US federation:
“We are concerned about the risk of the FPEU being instrumentalized to advance a pro-abortion agenda. The French Minister of European Affairs, Mr Beaune, has recently declared on several occasions that he wants to introduce abortion as a value of Europe. How can a politician display the promise of a « humane Europe » and at the same time present a collective project which values the destruction of human beings? There is a risk of ideological drift here.
In this context, ONE OF US and the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation are offering a “ 2022 Wishes for Life” campaign. On the website www.oneofus-citizens.eu, citizens are invited to express their wishes to their loved ones by sending them dedicated greeting cards.
Scheduled until spring 2022, this operation complements citizens’ participation in the debate « Protecting vulnerable human life: a value of Europe » published by ONE OF US on the platform of the Conference for the Future of Europe.
Marina Cassini, President of Movimento par la Vita (Italy) and spokeswoman for the ONE OF US European Citizens’ Initiative:
« Europe finds itself at a turning point in civilization where the citizens of the member countries want to reclaim the human values of its founders, first and foremost respect for the dignity of every human being, including the youngest. This was the main objective of the ONE OF US European Citizens’ Initiative, launched by my father Carlo Casini a few years ago in the European Parliament. As a reminder, with more than 1.7 million citizens signing the appeal (from 17 EU countries) ONE OF US is the most important European Citizens’ Initiative in history, the most successful of all the initiatives launched since the creation of this participatory democracy tool (by the Lisbon Treaty – implemented in 2009). This is why we have a duty to express with determination this message to protect the right to life on the occasion of the French presidency of the EU: Let’s stay humane! ! »
