Slovakian Concordat Creates Crises

The government of Slovakia is in crises today. Is it political corruption? No. Is it due to bribery and corruption in the highest places in government? No. It seems the problem is that the government is balking at signing a concordat with the Vatican. Specifically, the mention of a "conscience clause" which stipulates that citizens of Slovakia could not be forced to participate in anything that would offend there religious beliefs.

Catholic Exchange is reporting that christian democrats in response to prime ministers refusal to sign the concordat, have quit the Dzurinda government creating a crises.

On February 6, the Christian Democrat members of the ruling coalition announced that they were quitting the government, after Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda said that he would not press for acceptance of the pact with the Vatican.

In December, the Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights, a committee of the European Union, had issued a 40-page opinion arguing that the proposed concordat could interfere with a woman's legal access to abortion, since the agreement would allow doctors and nurses to refuse to perform the procedure. Such a pact, the committee said, "should be regulated in order to ensure that, in circumstances where abortion is legal, no woman shall be deprived from having effective access to the medical service of abortion.

The concordat has been under discussion in Slovakia since 2003, with the Dzurinda government originally favoring the pact. The coalition's support eroded after the European Union report.

It seems that the Dzurinda government only favors the right to choose if it means the death of an infant. It's hard to imagine that a country that is 70% catholic would even be debating this issue. To there credit the christian democrats did the right thing in quitting the government. They need our prayers.