Opponents of abortion hold Walk for Life rally in Ljubljana
Ljubljana - A march by opponents of abortion called Walk for Life was held in Ljubljana on Saturday, gathering a few hundred people, including Archbishop of Ljubljana Stanislav Zore, who said the fundamental right to life must not be forgotten. A counter-rally was also held at the same time.
Zore said in a statement ahead of the rally under the slogan Human Life is Inviolable that Pope Francis had been constantly encouraging people to go to the margins, to periphery.
"Today's rally takes us to that extreme margin, to extreme periphery, which cannot be seen at all. And if the heart goes blind to this periphery, this periphery is no more," he added.
"We must encourage ourselves, and we must encourage each other to start becoming sensitive also to this periphery. That we do not forget among all rights that we emphasise ... about the fundamental right, to the human right to life."
Urša Cankar Soares, the organiser of the rally, said that the message was that abortion took away a human life, adding that they wanted to achieve the respect of the constitutional article that says that human life is inviolable.
"We would like it to be inviolable regardless of circumstances. Regardless of whether it is desired or not, whether it is healthy or not, whether it is born or not. Every life is inviolable, every human deserves to live," she said.
A counter-rally was also held today, attended among others by Nataša Sukič, an MP of the opposition Left, who told the press that she had decided to be on the side of free disposition of one's own body and freedom of choice.
According to her, the attempts to ban abortion is a consequence of the "fact that the current authorities are connected with politicians such as the Polish and Hungarian prime ministers, and others."
The fact that the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church is involved in the Walk for Life means that the Church and the authorities claim the right to a woman's body, Sukič added.