Right now, so-called Civil Partnership legislation is before Romania's Chamber of Deputies.

"Civil Partnership" is basically another term for civil marriage for those who are co-habiting, but, the main difference between civil partnership and civil marriage is that, at the moment, only men and women - under the Romanian Constitution - can enter into marriage.

So, some politicians - who wish to be seen as progressive - are saying with the mooted legislation: "Why not make civil partnership available to everyone?", and give all of the same rights to co-habiting couples as married couples.

And, of course, it sounds so reasonable.

BUT, it is NOT reasonable. In fact, it is completely UNREASONABLE. Why?

For two important reasons: 1) Principally, because marriage - and, the special rights accorded to the institution of marriage by the state - is about children, and protecting the absolute right of children to have a mother and a father in their lives, when and where possible; and, 2) Because civil partnership will inevitably and inexorably lead to so-called same-sex "marriage", same-sex adoption, and so forth.

Of course, those promoting civil partnerships legislation deny and protest against the accusation that civil partnerships will lead to same-sex "marriage", but they know better.

Most countries which legalise so-called civil partnerships also, then, legalise so-called same-sex "marriage".

In the European context, we need only look to France, the UK, Ireland and the Nordic countries, to mention just a few examples.

And, as if to underline the real, long-term objective of campaigners for same-sex "marriage" in Ireland and in the Nordic countries, as soon as same-sex "marriage" was adopted in each of those countries, civil partnerships were abolished!

That just shows that the real objective in passing civil partnerships is to "soften the ground" for the eventual legalisation of same-sex "marriage".

But, that is only logical, because after civil partnerships are made legal, those pressing for same-sex "marriage" will claim that their "rights" are being discriminated against - which will obviously include the pretend "rights" to found a family, to have children (and, therefore, for the state to pay for their IVF and surrogacy), etc.

And, of course, the national curriculum for schoolchildren will be changed to acknowledge every "form" of family, as if they were all equal.

But, here's the point: Discriminating between things which are different is not a bad thing. In this case, there is a fundamental difference between marriage, as between one man and one woman, and any other type of co-habiting relationship. It's about children and about giving children's rights priority - especially, where at all possible, for a child to be raised by his/her opposite sex parents, as a married couple.

For its part, the state should be promoting marriage as the best situation in which children are to be raised...not seeking to diminish the status of marriage to just one of many options.

Simply put, society should not put the desires of adults above those of children. It's not all about love and affection; it's about stability for children. And, studies have shown that the single best environment for children to be raised is that of a marriage between an opposite sex couple.

Now, on another, related note, it is actually appalling that Deputies and Senators should be trying to push civil partnerships at the very same time as there is a massive public demand to protect marriage, as between a man and a woman, by referendum! Last year, 3M Romanian citizens demanded their right to change the Romanian Constitution to give effect to their deeply held belief that marriage should be reserved to one man and one woman.

Thus, this latest attempt to circumvent the will of the public by the Houses of Parliament is nothing less than a slap in the face to the Romanian public.

This petition, which is directed both to the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, and to the President of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, Liviu Dragnea, calls on the Government to: 1) Emphatically reject civil partnerships legislation as an affront to Romanian children and families; and, 2) Pass legislation allowing for a referendum which will give constitutional protection to marriage as defined as between one man and one woman.

Thank you for signing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

http://www.gandul.info/politica/parteneriatul-civil-respins-de-senat-conditia-pe-care-au-pus-o-senatorii-care-sustin-legalizarea-uniunilor-intre-persoane-de-acelasi-sex-14093581

https://www.news.ro/social/48-de-ong-uri-cer-parlamentului-si-presedintelui-iohannis-sa-consulte-comisia-de-la-venetia-pe-tema-initiativei-privind-redefinirea-familiei-1922400306002017041216893203

Update 6 June 2017: We won! The EALA shelved the bill, leaving it dead on arrival by the end of the term. The bill was scheduled to be debated on the May 31st before the house got dissolved but it couldn't be discussed. That means we've effectively won this campaign. Thanks so much for your support!

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The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) is about to become a house of murderers! They have drafted a Bill seeking to legalise abortion and give contraceptives to children and teenagers aged 10–19.

If passed into law, the Bill (dubbed the EAC Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Bill 2017) will bind East African Community member states to legalise abortion in some cases and to provide contraceptives to all EAC citizens, including children.

EAC member states include; Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

The Bill, currently at committee stage is among pending business to be handled by the new EALA legislators as soon as they assume office.

Section 17(2) of the proposed Bill reads:

“The partner states shall ensure that adolescents and young persons get access to relevant quality and youth friendly sexual and reproductive health services including contraceptives and condoms. . .”

Part I (2) of the proposed Bill, describes an “Adolescent" as any person aged between 10 and 19 years. (You can read the entire text of the bill here.)

The proposed legislation also requires member states to design and implement sexual and reproductive public education. If the law is endorsed, every individual would have a right to choose and consent to any method of birth control, including sterilization, a procedure in which a woman artificially made so that she cannot bear children again.

Under Section 15 (1), the Bill intends to legalise abortion, provided the pregnancy endangers the woman’s health and life: “The partner states shall safeguard and give effect to the reproductive rights of a woman by permitting the termination of pregnancy when in opinion of a trained health professional,” the proposed law states.

According to world experts in maternal health, however, abortion is never medically necessary to save the life of a pregnant mother. The Dubin Declaration on Maternal Healthcare reads: "As experienced practitioners and researchers in obstetrics and gynaecology, we affirm that direct abortion – the purposeful destruction of the unborn child – is not medically necessary to save the life of a woman. . . . We confirm that the prohibition of abortion does not affect, in any way, the availability of optimal care to pregnant women."

Thus, the proposal to legalise abortion in these instances is a smokescreen to attempt to legalise abortion for a broad variety of cases, leading to abortion-on-demand.

The spirit of this bill is ill and catastrophic, it should never see the light of day. Most of its content is inconsistent with many East African Countries' laws, since abortion is illegal in all East African countries.

The attempt to introduce the bill at this assembly should thus be stopped now! Sign the petition to send an email message to EALA legislators, urging them to kill this bill!