Metropolitan Ahafanhel Supports Bill Envisaging Prohibition of Abortions

Metropolitan Ahafanhel (Savin) of Odesa and Izmail of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) expressed his solidarity with the religious leaders who propose to prohibit termination of pregnancy by law. In his opinion, abortion is a sin of infanticide, the “most terrible thing parents can do to their child.”

The metropolitan expressed his position in an interview published by the website of the Odesa Eparchy.

“Such an initiative can be received only with full approval and solidarity regardless of what forces brought it forward,” commented the hierarch on the bill envisaging the prohibition of abortions.

“The Canonical rules equalize abortions with murder. This idea is based on the conviction that the conception of a human person is a gift of God and, therefore, any encroachment on the life of a person to be is criminal,” said the hierarch.

“As for the idea that interested persons will allegedly find illegal ways to achieve their goal anyway, this logic is completely wrong. In that case, one should also not prohibit drugs as people will always look for illegal ways of their spread,” he said.

Metropolitan Ahafanhel also stressed that other measures should also be used to prevent abortions: “It is important to take not only prohibitive measures (which undoubtedly are necessary, in particular with respect to dishonest doctors if they violate the law) but also explanatory and incentive measures.”      

It is notable that in an interview to the 1st National Channel on April 14, the head of UOC-MP, Metropolitan Volodymyr, expressed an opinion that one should struggle against abortions with “word and heart” and not laws. “One can pass the law though. But what difference will it make?” said the primate.