Boris Zala (source: SME/Jozef Jakubčo)
The author is a philosopher and former Member of the European Parliament.
So I sat down and listened to what Prime Minister Fico intends to replace those supposedly peace-disturbing Sunday political talk shows with. I listened to his new format of Sunday press briefings. I have nothing against political bickering on a Sunday—indeed, Smer’s leader has now definitively transformed Sunday mornings into a political boxing ring.
To the extent that many will be lured away from Mass, church services or morning outings.
What lies behind “cultural and ethical issues”?
But let’s get to the point. I was interested in his position on the proposed constitutional amendment. An amendment that most NGOs, intellectuals, educated elites and journalists misleadingly and inexpertly refer to as the “two genders law”. As if they haven’t even made the smallest effort to read the government’s full proposal and accompanying explanatory report, which runs to about five pages. It seems they’ve only read the final seven words.
To put it very succinctly: the proposal introduces the term “national identity”, which is immediately reduced to “cultural and ethical issues”. It then spells out in detail what that means. Beneath the neatly phrased commitments to the protection of life, family, and marriage lies a clear agenda: to ban women from making free decisions about their motherhood and bodies, to prohibit any legal recognition of same-sex partnerships, to deny individuals the right to change their gender identity, and to prevent people from seeking a dignified and free way to end their life.
