Tuesday November 8, 2005
Swedes Say They Are Obligated to Make Abortion Available to Polish Women
By Terry Vanderheyden
STOCKHOLM, November 8, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Swedish officials have recommended that the country open its borders to allow foreign women to access their medical system for abortions, a government-commissioned report stated. It argued that because Swedish women once travelled to communist Poland when abortion was illegal at home, they now must offer the same “service” to Poles since abortion is now illegal there.
According to a Breitbart.com report, “critics” argue that before the mid-1970s, when abortion was illegal in Sweden, many women travelled to communist Poland for abortions. Now that abortion is illegal there, they reason that Swede’s have an obligation to allow Poles the same “service” that was once available to them.
In Sweden, state funds pay for abortions which can be committed without explanation up to the 18th week of pregnancy. Surprisingly, the report recommended that foreign women be required to pay for their abortions.
Lead author of the report, Eva Eriksson, told reporters, “We suggest that foreign women be allowed to have abortions in Sweden.” Her report, Abortion in Sweden, suggested that the new measure be in place by July 1 next year. She also recommended that despite the absence of a law, women should have access simply because they are citizens of Europe. “Sweden’s [European Union] membership already today implies that women from another EU country should be offered abortion in Sweden despite the wording of the abortion law.”
Jim Hughes, vice president of the International Right to Life Federation, told LifeSiteNews.com that “With all the knowledge we now have about the reality of the child in the womb, that we’re still promoting the killing of children before birth . . . is appalling. We’ve known for years that Sweden is a liberal country, but it’s pretty appalling that the world would look upon Sweden as a death camp, and certainly that’s what it will become.”
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