Brussels, Belgium, Aug 20, 2013 / 01:24 am
A citizen-led initiative in Europe is nearing the one million signatures needed to prompt a discussion on human life and push for an end to funding of abortion and embryo-destroying research.
The initiative, called "One of Us," seeks to protect the "dignity, the right to life and the integrity of every human being" at all stages of development.
It asks the European Union "to end the financing of activities which presuppose the destruction of human embryos, in particular in the areas of research, development aid and public health," according to the organizers' website.
The petition was introduced as a European citizens' initiative, a participative democracy project in which the people can submit legislative proposals to the European parliament if they can generate one million signatures from citizens within a year.