TALLINN - Financing of abortions on demandfrom the state budget is not justified, sayYoung Conservatives, the youthbranch of Estonia's Pro Patria andRes Publica Union.
Financing abortions performed without medical necessity or theabortions on demand from the state budget is on the constitutionally andlegally impermissible and politically unjustified, the association said in astatement.
Every year millions of kroons of taxpayers' money is spent tosupport a practice that ignores the most fundamental human rights and isdestructive to the Estoniannation, Young Conservatives said.
They pointed out that 9,378 abortions on demand were performedin Estonia in 2006 and theHealth Insurance Fund paid 1,578.5 kroons (EUR 101) for each procedure or 70percent of its cost. Thus, the state spent more than 14.5 million kroons tofund abortions that year.
Apart from constitutional arguments, the Young Conservativesalso see that the fact is it is not appropriate for the state to financemedical procedures performed without medical justification speaks againstpublic funding of abortions.
As the Young Conservatives see it, such use of the taxpayers'money is unacceptable. In their words, the funds were better spent on devisingand implementing in schools an efficient family planning program.
In the association's view, the concept of mandatorypre-abortion counseling should be reviewed and the counseling made moreeffective.
They also called for developing an effective adoption systemto bring together the needs of unborn children and childless couples longingfor a child.
Estonianeeds a more general public discussion of abortion-related issues, YoungConservatives added. One question it should address is how the state couldfulfill its constitutional duty to ensure effective protection of the right tolife of the unborn.
"In the present situation, with Estonia having one of the highest abortion rates in the world,there can be no talk of fulfilling this obligation," Young Conservativessaid. "The first step that should be taken towards rectifying thissituation is making an end of the unconstitutional public funding ofabortions."
