Chisinau, Moldova -- The Moldovan Orthodox Church announced on Tuesday it would excommunicate any parliamentary deputy who voted in favor of a law legalizing abortion.
The parliament voted earlier this month in favor of a first draft of a law on abortion and birth control, and a second favorable vote would advance the proposal toward legalization.
As a republic of the Soviet Union until the early 1990s, Moldova promoted taxpayer-funded abortion as a primary means of birth control, but the resurgent Christian faith embodied in the Orthodox Church, to which most Moldovan Christians belong, strongly opposes abortion legalization.
"We will demand from the clergy not to give communion to those supporting abortions until they have changed their attitude to this crime," Moldovan Metropolitan Vladimir said in an open letter to parliament. "Would you or your children like to be victim of an abortion?" he said. "Would we have parliamentarians then?"