It is our duty to warn the public about the legal and moral unacceptability of the intent to legalize the freezing of human embryos, which would make the creating of human embryos outside the family environment possible by the fusion of gametes from surrogate parents, thereby depriving a child born by such a procedure of the right to both parents.

The proposal for such a law is not in compliance with the principles of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, the stipulations of international contracts that govern human rights, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Family Act and the Anti-Discrimination Act. The Republic of Croatia is free to regulate this area in the manner it deems fit and is not bound by requirements of the European Union or the Council of Europe, except in technical issues regarding the application of medically assisted fertilization.
The constitutional provisions on the prohibition of discrimination, as well as the spirit and letter of the separate Anti-Discrimination Act, are also ignored in the proposed law. The legalization of procedures for the conception and birth of children who are deprived of the right to both biological parents makes such children a particularly vulnerable and discriminated-against group. In the long run, a child’s subsequently learning of the manner and procedure of the beginning of his life would have negative consequences at the psychological level in the most sensitive period of the formation of his personality. The proposed solution violates such children’s rights to privacy because they would not be able to find out whether they have brothers or sisters conceived in a similar manner, i.e., they would not be able to become acquainted with each other.

VIOLATION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE CHILD. A human embryo is a human being in the earliest and most vulnerable phase of development. According to this scientifically undeniable fact, Article 21, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, which states that every human being has the right to life, also applies to the human embryo. Freezing embryos and their selective destruction according to various criteria violate the constitutionally guaranteed right to life.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified by the Croatian Parliament, stipulates that a child should be provided with legal protection even prior to birth, and is entitled to care from both parents (Preamble and Article 7, Item 1 of the Convention).
Article 32, Item 2 of the Family Act of the Republic of Croatia obligates spouses to practice mutual respect and fidelity. According to the proposed law, conception could be achieved by the use of the gametes of a third person, which amounts to bearing a child conceived in adultery from the biological and genetic aspects.
For these reasons, the adoption of a law that is obviously contradictory to the fundamental provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Family Act and the Anti-Discrimination Act would not adequately resolve the issue of this delicate area.

THE UNAVOIDABLE MORAL COMPONENT OF HUMAN ACTS. Such a law, the provisions of which completely ignore general moral principles, could have a long-term negative impact on the morality of the widest circles of people. It is known that laws which ignore the moral component result in actions and procedures that were generally considered immoral prior to their enactment but by the fact that of their legality with time began to be permitted as morally acceptable. Simply stated, in the thinking of citizens, the law is equated with morality and justice.
The adoption of such a law opens the possibility for manipulations with parenting and ultimately undermines the family founded upon marriage.
Therefore, we urge the parliamentary representatives, especially those of the Catholic faith, not to pass laws that are morally-legally detrimental. We encourage the faithful and all people open to the truth to be aware of the dangers arising from such immoral laws, to refuse to use options that are contradicted by moral laws, and to employ all legal civil means to prevent their adoption and amend unacceptable legislation.

Zagreb, May 10, 2012