Finland’s Interior Minister sparked uproar in Finland
in July by sharply criticizing the country’s liberal abortion laws. In a speech
to a Lutheran missions gathering in Kankaanpää in southwestern Finland,
Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen lamented that animals have more protection in
Finland than unborn human babies.
In her speech she highlighted the fact that Finland and
Sweden are the only two western European countries that do not allow health
care workers the right to refuse to participate in an abortion. Dr. Rasanen
also noted that Finnish law provides that animals must be slaughtered
painlessly, but unborn human beings have no protections from the excruciating
pain of an abortion.
Citing Acts 5:29, she also noted that one may face
situations “… where we must weigh our actions, whether we are ready to go
against public opinion, peer pressure and even law if these contradict the Word
of God.” The archbishop and two bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Finland (CoF) wasted no time in declaring that she does not speak for that
Church.
In a July 12 letter to the Finnish paper HBL
(Huvudstadsbladet), Räsänen
clarified her position, writing, “In my own case, as a doctor, I have
had to consider the relationship between abortion law and my own convictions.
However, one can avoid performing an abortion, and, with this the closure of a
small human life, by resigning from his post.”
“Nor,” Räsänen
continued, “… have I called for breaking the law, but instead sought to
bring about a change in the law which would allow a conscience protection for
health care professionals so that they would not be forced to abort a pregnancy.”
Following her groundbreaking speech, which brought severe
criticism from many of her colleagues, the Director of Minnesota Citizens
Concerned for Life Global Outreach (MCCL GO)Scott Fischbach recently met with
Dr. Rasanen in the Finnish Parliament House. The two leaders discussed abortion in
Finland and Minnesota as well as fetal pain and the detrimental effects of
abortion on women’s health.
In a statement issued following the meeting Fischbach said.
“It is a real honor to meet with the Interior Minister of Finland today. Her courage to speak out for the unborn from the highest levels of government is very noble. Igniting a national conversation about abortion and keeping the human rights cause of life in front of the people is a tremendous victory!”
According to an MCCL GO statement nearly a quarter of all
Minnesotans can trace Finnish ancestry in their heritage and 23 percent are
Lutherans in faith.
