June 15, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The government of Hungary has enraged the largely pro-abortion establishment in the European Union by sponsoring a nationwide pro-life campaign using funds received from the EU itself.
The campaign consists of posters depicting an unborn child begging for its life. The posters have been placed in subway stations, bus stops, and other public places,
“I understand well that you aren’t ready for me yet, but think twice and give me to the adoption service. LET ME LIVE!” the text says beneath the image of the unborn child.
The posters go on to note that thousands of Hungarian children are killed by abortion each year, while many couples in Hungary are seeking to adopt children.
The campaign has been paid for in part with funds received from the European Union program known as “Progress,” which was created to promote employment and “solidarity” in Europe; the posters bear the program’s logo. However, EU officials have made it clear that the “solidarity” envisioned by the program does not include unborn children, and have ordered Hungarian officials to shut the program down.
According to European Commissioner of Justice, Viviane Reding, the campaign “does not conform to the project submitted by the Hungarian authorities and the [European] Commission is therefore asking the Hungarian authorities to put an end to that part of the campaign and to withdraw the rest of the posters without delay.”
Reding claims that the campaign “goes against European values” and is warning that if Hungary does not do as it is ordered, “we will begin procedures to put an end to the agreement and make the appropriate decisions, including financial ones.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has responded by saying that the project his country submitted to the European Commission aims at promoting “balanced” families. But he added that if the European Commission doesn’t accept his reasoning, he is prepared to take “appropriate measures,” the French Press Agency reported.
According to Hungary’s minister for families and youth, Miklos Soltesz, the government is seeking to raise consciousness about the value of human life, despite the ongoing legality of abortion in the country. He denies that the campaign is a first step towards the prohibition of abortion.
“Hungarian society isn’t ready for the prohibition of abortion, like Poland for example,” he told the French news agency Hu LaLa. “That isn’t what we are seeking. We want to insist on the importance of life.”
The Hungarian government has expressed its strong pro-life perspective in the creation of a new constitution, which protects the right to life from the moment of conception. However, officials have also made it clear that they do not believe that they are yet able to enforce the new provisions through legislation prohibiting abortion.