Interpellation concerning the need for prenatal protection of the right to life of children (No. 554)
Session: Fifteenth Riigikogu, third session, plenary session
Date: 2024-05-27 21:07
Participating Politicians:
Total Speeches: 28
Membership: 15
Agenda Duration: 36m
AI Summaries: 28/28 Speeches (100.0%)
Analysis: Structured Analysis
Politicians Speaking Time
Politicians
Analysis
Summary
The fourth agenda item addressed a previously submitted interpellation to the Riigikogu concerning the prenatal protection of children's right to life. The interpellation (554) was submitted on June 15, 2023, by Varro Vooglaid, Helle-Moonika Helme, and Martin Helme, and demanded a substantive explanation from the government and the Ministry of Social Affairs regarding the protection of prenatal life. The issues raised concerned the constitutional right to life, the protection of children's welfare, and the state's responsibility to ensure equal rights for all, including children yet to be born. The five questions presented concerned the government's activities, justifications, public opinion campaigns, and the creation of support structures for women facing pregnancy crises.
The discussion of this agenda item was emotional and ideologically polarizing: the Estonian demographic crisis and the issues of advocacy and rights highlighted an intense exchange of arguments and differing worldviews—specifically, how far the protection of prenatal life extends and in what manner the state should react. Minister Signe Riisalo represented the government's position, emphasizing the existing legal framework and the role of evidence-based counseling, sexual education, and family planning in reducing the number of abortions, and referred to the need to address the factors causing abortions. The tentative solutions found and the discussion indicated that there were no clearly established new measures or legislative changes available for decision-making within the framework of this interpellation.
Decisions Made 1
No decisions were made during the discussion of the agenda item.
Most Active Speaker
The most active speaker was Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo (pid ehjpLK1FIak). She represented the position of the Riigikogu government, and as a minister of the right-wing/center-right coalition, she answered questions, explaining the government's approach and the corresponding measures related to the protection of prenatal life and family planning.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The new minister is welcomed, and the fourth item on the agenda is the interpellation (No. 554) submitted by Riigikogu members Varro Vooglaid, Helle-Moonika Helme, and Martin Helme on June 15, 2023, concerning the necessity of prenatal protection of children's right to life. Varro Vooglaid is requested to serve as the rapporteur.

Varro Vooglaid
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Varro Vooglaid emphasizes that the constitution obligates the state to protect the lives of unborn children and ensure the equal right to life for all people. He presents five-part questions to the ministers, requesting answers and proposals concerning campaigns, support structures, and pregnancy counseling, in order to overcome the demographic crisis.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi offered his thanks and invited the esteemed colleague, Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo, to the Riigikogu rostrum to answer the questions of the interpellators.
Sotsiaalkaitseminister Signe Riisalo
AI Summary
Riisalo said that Estonia is reducing unwanted pregnancies and the number of abortions through adequate sexual education, family planning counseling, and the provision of widely accessible assistance, emphasizing that the state does not organize public campaigns on behalf of the lives of unborn children. Instead, it increases awareness and the availability of counseling services through youth clinics, maternity and women's health centers, and crisis counseling, adding that the number of abortions has significantly decreased over the last decade.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The Vice-Chair thanks the audience, invites questions, and asks Jaak Valge to pose his question.

Jaak Valge
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Jaak Valge asked whether the extraordinary increase in the abortion rate in 2022 (17% per 100 live births) was due to women arriving in Estonia from Ukraine, citing the latest data and the difference in Ukrainian reproductive behavior in Estonia.
Sotsiaalkaitseminister Signe Riisalo
AI Summary
Riisalo highlighted a significant drop in births and an increase in the number of abortions, explaining that the reasons may include women of Ukrainian origin and economic uncertainty. He emphasized women's well-being and personal voluntary choice, and expressed hope that the number of abortions would decrease, given that decisions in an unsafe society and against the backdrop of crises are influenced by numerous factors.

Martin Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Martin Helme accuses the government of being the most anti-family and anti-child government of all time, claiming that Estonian law does not treat unborn children or very young children in terms of rights, and that this liberal logic could allow parents to start killing three-month-old or three-year-old children.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks Martin Helme to come forward and take the floor.
Sotsiaalkaitseminister Signe Riisalo
AI Summary
Capacity to act develops with age, and full capacity to act is acquired by a person at the age of 18, whereas legal personality exists from the moment of birth and cannot be alienated.

Varro Vooglaid
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Varro Vooglaid emphasizes that the constitution grants everyone the right to life, including the unborn child, and asks what the government is doing to ensure equality in this context, given that the state funds abortion and over 3,200 people are killed annually, and whether such a state can truly be called a rule-of-law state.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi invites Varro Vooglaid to take the floor.
Sotsiaalkaitseminister Signe Riisalo
AI Summary
Riisalo stated that legal capacity begins at birth, in accordance with the general part of the Civil Code. He added that regarding the termination of pregnancy, the woman herself must determine what happens to her body up to the 12th week of gestation. After that, up to the 22nd week, decisions are based on medical indications, which are determined by doctors. If changes are desired, the legislator must initiate a bill, but he trusts the current legal framework and the doctors.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
This is a brief request: to invite Helle-Moonika Helme to the stage.

Helle-Moonika Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Helle-Moonika Helme asks whether the right to abortion is considered a human right, and whether Estonia, as a sovereign state, will stand up for the rights of the unborn child or delegate that right to the parents, allowing them to decide the life of one tiny, potential human being.
Sotsiaalkaitseminister Signe Riisalo
AI Summary
Riisalo emphasized that Estonia adheres to existing legislation concerning children from birth until they reach the age of 18. He added that voluntary termination of pregnancy is permitted within the first 12 weeks of gestation, provided it is based on a doctor's assessment, noting that worldviews may differ and that several European countries have moved further in allowing women to make decisions regarding their own bodies.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Vice-Speaker Toomas Kivimägi asks to give the floor to Mart Helme.

Mart Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Mart Helme claims that this is primarily a moral issue, not just a legal one, and since the demographic crisis and young people—especially 17- and 18-year-old women—may not grasp the moral dimension, the state should undertake a massive awareness campaign focusing on the context of this moral dimension.
Sotsiaalkaitseminister Signe Riisalo
AI Summary
Riisalo emphasizes that raising a child is a significant challenge and requires educational outreach to young people regarding family planning and parenthood, so that they can make free choices, while simultaneously acknowledging diverse values and a woman's right to decide up to the 12th week of pregnancy.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
This is a short request to call Kert Kingo forward: "Kert Kingo, please!"
Kert Kingo
AI Summary
Kert Kingo criticizes the portrayal of raising children as an extremely difficult and hopeless task. She points out that people managed to grow up just fine even without modern educational tools in the past, and questions what the true goal behind promoting this negative narrative actually is.
Sotsiaalkaitseminister Signe Riisalo
AI Summary
The state stresses that raising a child is a responsibility lasting 18 years, which requires conscious planning, and that support should be available to all families and those who wish to have children.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Vice-Speaker Toomas Kivimägi invited Leo Kunnas to the stage.

Leo Kunnas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Leo Kunnas stresses that the abolition of de facto rights and mass murder are characteristic features of totalitarian states, and that this does not depend on ideology. He is surprised that this principle is not yet clear.
Sotsiaalkaitseminister Signe Riisalo
AI Summary
Riisalo emphasized that legal capacity arises at the moment of birth, and capacity to act expands with age, with full capacity being achieved by the age of 18. He added that if the chamber wishes to discuss the moment legal capacity is acquired, that topic is on a completely different level than the right to abortion, which is the subject of today’s discussion.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi thanked [the previous speaker/segment], stated that there were no further questions, opened the floor for debate, and invited Varro Vooglaid to come forward.

Varro Vooglaid
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Varro Vooglaid claims that the Republic of Estonia finances prenatal killing, thereby violating the constitutional right to life of unborn children. He accuses the government and its subordinate institutions of engaging in public opinion campaigns and calls for a serious discussion and changes to the legislation.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi closed the debate and concluded the consideration of this agenda item.