Pro-Lifer Appointed European Union Commissioner in charge of Justice Department

Thursday August 12, 2004

Pro-Lifer Appointed European Union Commissioner in charge of Justice Department

BRUSSELS, August 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso today named 24 new commissioners to the EU Commission. Rocco Buttiglione, the Italian minister for European Affairs and former Professor of Philosophy, was named commissioner in charge of the Justice, Freedom and Security portfolio for the Commission.

In 2001, as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's new government took power, Minister Buttiglione proposed pro-life legislation which aimed at encouraging women in crisis pregnancies to decide against abortion. The proposal would have seen women choosing to carry their children to birth given funds to off-set child rearing costs for the first year of the babies' lives. Moreover, the law would have required the biological father's consent for abortions in the cases of minors.

"Many women have abortions because they can't afford (a child). We propose to help them financially," Buttiglione said at the time. "Others do so because their partners abandoned them or made them feel guilty, or because they have a difficult relationship with their parents. We propose individual or family therapy to support them in these difficulties."

See the EU Commission's full roster of new commissioners:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/mediatheque/photo/barroso/commission_en.htm

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URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/aug/04081201.html

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