The
new constitution would include clauses
defining marriage as a union between
one man and one woman.
Should
these constitutional changes be adopted,
they would create
a complete about-face for Hungary,
which currently has one of the most
liberal abortion laws in Europe.
An
ad-hoc parliamentary committee in
charge of drafting the constitution
has presented the draft document for
debate in the Hungarian National Assembly
between Dec. 10 and 15, before being
submitted to a vote. If the document
is approved by parliament, new changes
to the constitution will only be possible
if two subsequent parliaments vote
on identical changes with the backing
of a two-thirds majority on each occasion,
the document stated.
The
newly governing party, Fidesz, is
usually described in the European
media as “centre-right”
and socially conservative. It rules
in a coalition government with the
Christian Democratic People’s
Party (KDNP). This April, the Fidesz/KNDP
coalition won a huge landslide victory
with a two-thirds majority, with Fidesz
winning 263 of 386 seats in the National
Assembly. Fidesz started its political
life as a student-led anti-communist
party who were actively persecuted
by the regime. Its power has grown
in successive elections since winning
8.95 percent of the vote in 1990,
to its current 52.73 percent.
Modern
Hungary’s first constitution
was adopted in 1949 when the country
was under communist rule. This was
heavily amended in 1989 when communism
in Europe was collapsing, and the
current revision was announced earlier
this year. If it is adopted, the new
constitution will be the country’s
first under a democratic government.
A
pro-life constitution would mean a
massive shift in Hungarian law, and
a nearly unprecedented change for
any EU country.
Under communist rule abortion was
allowed without restriction and was
paid for by the state since the 1950s.
Hungary’s current abortion rate,
at nearly 30 percent of all pregnancies,
is one of the highest in Europe.
Hungary’s
birth rate is similar to that of many
European countries spiraling down
into a demographic
crisis, with a general fertility
rate of 1.39 children born per woman
and a median age for women of 42.6
years. Population growth rate is -
0.156 per cent.
Although
the Hungarian population today is
only 51 percent Catholic, the country’s
connection to the Church is ancient
and still strong. The first king,
Stephen I is a canonized saint in
the Catholic Church and was crowned
with a crown sent from Rome by the
pope in AD 1000. The Kingdom of Hungary
remained a significant power in Europe
until the communist take-over in the
20th century.
In
his remarks to the new ambassador
of Hungary to the Holy See, Pope Benedict
XVI mentioned the country’s
ancient connection to the Church,
and said it is “desirable …
that the new Constitution be inspired
by Christian values, particularly
in what concerns the position of marriage
and the family in society and the
protection of life.”
“Marriage
and the family constitute the decisive
foundation for a healthy development
of the civil society of countries
and peoples. Marriage as a basic form
of ordering the relationship between
man and woman and, at the same time,
as basic cell of the state community,
has also been molded by biblical faith,”
the pope said.
“Europe
will no longer be Europe if this basic
cell of the social construction disappears
or is substantially transformed.”
Paul
Tully, the general secretary for the
UK’s Society for the Protection
of Unborn Children, told LifeSiteNews.com
that it is not unprecedented for European
countries to do a complete about-face
on abortion and related social issues.
“It’s
not all that unusual,” he said,
citing the case of Poland, which immediately
instituted pro-life laws after its
people kicked out its communist rulers
in the early 1990s.
“In
a sense,’ Tully said, “this
is a similar thing, in terms of shaking
off former communist influences.”
Tully agreed that it would be unusual,
but also that in general, countries
that have a strong religious heritage
and have thrown off Soviet rule have
a greater animus against abortion
in public opinion.
Hungary,
he said, has “a strong attachment
to religious values, as in Poland,”
and this draft constitution seems
to be a deliberate hearkening back
to the country’s pre-communist
days as a Christian kingdom.
The
new government’s plans have
already come under attack by Europe’s
intellectual liberals with an editorial
piece appearing in the UK’s
Guardian newspaper, warning that the
European Union needs to “send
a message” to Hungary’s
new government, which it accuses of
“dismantling the rule of law
and eroding a fragile democratic political
culture.”