New report states that freedom of conscience is threatened in France, Spain and Sweden
A new report published on Tuesday raised concerns that the right to conscientious objection is threatened in France, Spain and Sweden.
Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) published the 71-page Report examines freedom of expression, parental rights and freedom of conscience in five European countries: France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom
A burn online press conference On 7 December, Madeleine Enzlberger, CEO of OIDAC, said that there had been constant pressure in some European countries to eliminate conscientious objection, especially with regard to abortion.
The report said that the change of a conscientious objection clause in Sweden had already affected Christian professionals, and that “similar developments in France and Spain could lead to a complete exclusion of Christians from certain professions.”
In Sweden, Christians who work in healthcare can be fired because they have exercised their freedom of conscience. European Court of Human Rights refused in 2020 to consider the case of two midwives, Ellinor Grimmark and Linda Steen, who were denied employment due to their refusal to perform abortions.
The European Parliament, the European Union’s legislative body, voted in June for a report describing abortion as “necessary health care” and seeks to redefine conscientious objection as a “denial of health care.”
In Spain, the Ministry of Gender Equality introduced plans in September to create a register of doctors, nurses and staff who oppose abortion with the aim of guaranteeing the “right to terminate pregnancies” in public hospitals.
The Spanish bishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid responded to the plans by asking: “If the intention is to guarantee access to this service, why do not those who are willing to have an abortion register?”
Spain’s gender equality minister Irene Montero said on July 8 that “doctors’ right to conscientious objection can not exceed women’s right to decide”, prompting a group of 52 local medical colleges to call her proposed changes “unacceptable, illegal and unfair.”
“With freedom of conscience … we constantly have a push from rather ideological movements to get rid of the conscientious objection clause for medical staff, especially when it comes to abortion procedures,” Enzlberger said.
“There is a push for it at the moment, especially in Spain, but there was also one in France.”
Enzlberger shared the example Julia Rynkiewicz, a midwifery student in the UK who was suspended for four months and faced a “fitness to practice” investigation due to her involvement with the Nottingham Students for Life Society at her university.
OIDAC, based in Vienna, has documented 4,000 cases of intolerance and discrimination against Christians in Europe over the past 10 years – more than 70% of which have been hate crimes committed with an anti-Christian motive.
Its work contributes to and is based on the annual data published by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on hate crimes in Europe.
The latest OSCE data, published on 16 November, documented 980 incidents against Christians 2020, including arson against Catholic churches, desecration and robbery of communion hosts, abuse of priests and anti-Catholic graffiti on church property by abortion activists.
“The French government’s statistics from 2019 say that on average, almost three cases of vandalism against a church or Christian building occurred every day,” Enzlberger said.
“The public visibility of violence against churches somehow normalizes violence against Christians in the public sphere. And the monitoring of hate crimes is an important barometer of the social climate in a given country, “she said.