By Wendy Wright | c-fam.org

NEW YORK, January 25 (C-FAM) A European court victory for environmentalists has inspired a continent-wide campaign to end European Union funding of embryo-destructive research and abortion.

The “One of Us” campaign launched this month by leaders in twenty European countries calls for the European Union to stop funding efforts that destroy pre-born life, including groups that perform abortions in developing countries. It follows a European Court of Justice ruling in 2011, in a lawsuit brought by Greenpeace, that human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection.

“One of Us” is a European Citizen Initiative, a new method provided in the Treaty of Lisbon for proposing legislation in the European Union. It requires signatures from at least one million EU citizens in at least 7 out of the 27 member states. Pro-family leaders from seven countries are spearheading the effort with support from politicians and civil society leaders in other countries.

If the campaign gathers one million signatures, the European Parliament is duty-bound to schedule a debate on the issue.

Currently, European policies are at odds with the European Court of Justice decision.

“Europe today is funding scientific research that destroys and manipulates embryos, funds international groups touting abortion, proposes voluntary interruption of pregnancy as a solution to the health problems of women,” Italian Member of the European Parliament Carlo Casini told the Zenit news agency.

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