Draft law on reproductive health/KNFSH meeting with the Ministry of Health, the 5 points against are revealed

2024-05-28 16:12:00, Aktualitet CNA

Draft law on reproductive health/KNFSH meeting with the Ministry of Health, the

The Interreligious Council of Albania, today, May 28, 2024, held a meeting at the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.

Some of the members of the working group set up in connection with the draft law "On sexual and reproductive health", representatives of five religious communities in Albania and specialists from the legal, medical, social and ethical fields, are participating in this meeting -theological.

The working group of the Interreligious Council of Albania led by Prof. Assoc. Dr. Genti Kruja, Secretary General of the National Institute of Health and Welfare, was received by the Deputy Ministers of Health, Mrs. Mira Rakacolli and Mrs. Entela Ramosaçaj, as well as members of the working group, representatives of the ministry.

On behalf of KNFSH, Mr. Kruja first, after thanking the Ministry of Health for accepting the request of the Interreligious Council for the realization of this meeting, once again revealed the clear position of the religious communities, based on these points:

First : we are against the provision of sterilization as a method of family planning, except in cases where there are medical indications, because sterilization is an irreversible medical intervention and negatively affects the health and life of the person, prohibited even in the most developed countries; and also because it contradicts the principles that protect the family and life.

Second : in no letter of the draft law do we find the necessary care, which should be devoted to the policies for increasing support and encouraging fertility in our country with social, economic, educational and health measures.

Third: we are against the voluntary termination of pregnancy, except when there are medical indications, not only because our beliefs are pro-life and consider abortion a crime unless it is done to preserve the mother's health.

Moreover, a critical argument that constitutes an alarm bell for every policymaker is the statistics about the birth rate, in our country the legality level is 1.4 children per couple, while the survival rate of the society is at least 2.1 births per couple. At this rate, what will be the inevitable end?

Fourth: we demand that surrogate motherhood not be allowed in Albania because it seriously violates the dignity of women and children; constitutes an increased risk for human trafficking, organ trafficking, exploitation of minors, exploitation of women for ordered births for criminal purposes, also defined by the Directive of the European Parliament; moreover, surrogate motherhood turns the conceived being into an object that can be legally negotiated; it can create strong psychic and psychological traumas for the child when he is made aware of the method of conception, as well as for the mother who carries him for nine months in her womb.

Fifth: the draft law directly affects the concept of family with parents, mother and father, and goes so far as to replace the marital relationship with the term "female without a partner", the definition of which contradicts the norms and spirit of the Family Code, with the rights of the child to have the conditions "for a complete and harmonious development of the personality".

As mentioned above, the Interreligious Council of Albania, as a representative of the will of all our believers, part of the five official religious communities and Albanian society, requests that the draft law "On sexual and reproductive health" not be passed in the Parliament of Albania and wishes that this request to receive the proper attention from your side and all together, let's work for a better and safer future for the new generations, with faith in God and the law for the common good.

Deputy Minister Mrs. Rakacolli has thanked KNFSH for the work done, the material submitted and the arguments previously presented in writing, and expressed his readiness for cooperation.

Then the parties have discussed and analyzed their arguments, while KNFSH ultimately remains concise to the material drawn up by its group of experts and full of hope that the relevant ministry will take into account its requests, reflecting on the arguments presented.

At the end of the meeting, the KNFSH group gave a press statement to the media present./ CNA