The church in Sweden says no to abortion tourism

A plan to allow foreign women to come to Sweden for abortion has infuriated some church leaders in this country. Religious leaders talking politics in Sweden is highly unusual in a country that is usually considered to be at the vanguard of liberal reform. But as Azariah Kiros reports, the Catholic Church and the evangelical Pentecostal Movement in Sweden are advising Swedes not to support one of the coalition partners in the government, the Christian Democrats, in the next election if the Party supports the proposal.

The two Christian leaders say they are worried about the proposed legislation.

They argue that the planned legislation does not take into account the basic Christian conviction of the right to life.

Anders Arborelius is the Bishop of the Catholic diocese of Stockholm.

Bishop Arborelius and his Christian colleague, the leader of the Pentecostal Movement, Sten-Gunnar Hedin are taking the proposal so seriously they're prepared to take any measure to stop it.

The two recently wrote in the country's biggest morning paper, Dagens Nyheter, urging voters not to support the Christian Democratic Party, one of the coalition partners in the government in the next election if the government goes ahead with its proposal to allow foreign women to have abortion here.

The government says the legislative proposal to allow women from member states of the European Union to come here for abortion is based on the principle of equality of health care for all citizens of the Union.

The church leaders are most disappointed with the Christian Democratic Party and its leader and Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Göran Häglund, whom they accuse of abandoning fundamental Christian values.

Stefan Atterfall is the leader of the Christian Democrats in the Riksdag, the Swedish Parliament. And he says the new legislation is needed because women in the European Union should be treated equally.

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Tags christianity, health, politics, sweden, women

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