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Extract from Holy See Statement at UN discussion on Women's Human Rights
Monsignor Bert Van Megan made an excellent intervention on behalf of the Holy See and told the meeting that abortion is not a human right and that no UN treaty or convention makes such a claim. He also reminded the meeting that the Convention on the Rights of the Child says that "the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth." see webcast of full statement on new ELN blog http://europeanlifenetwork.blogspot.com |
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UN special session on the Human Rights of Women Patrick Buckley in a statement at the UN special session on Women's Human Rights in Geneva on Thursday Jene 5th told the meeting that legalizing abortion would not reduce maternal mortality. The available evidence suggests that the reverse is true [...] Ireland, for example, has the lowest maternal mortality in the world while the UK, which legalised abortion over 40 years ago, has a maternal mortality level eight times the Irish level and the US level is approximately 11 times higher. The blatant falsehood that maternal mortality will be reduced by the introduction of legalized abortion is responsible for the killing of countless babies and the needless deaths of women through the misdirection of scarce resources.
full statement and webcast can be accessed on
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| Greetings!
It is not every day that the right to life of the child before birth is considered or mentioned at United Nations meetings but on Thursday June 5th the Human Rights Council in Geneva was reminded on three seperate occasions that the unborn also have rights see reports below and new blog
NEW BLOG
There are a number of posts on the blog which include an recent analysis of the Lisbon Treaty prepared by the European Centre for Law and Justice. There is a report on an intervention made by Patrick in Geneva last week during a debate on Women's Human Rights. The article also includes a webcast of this intervention and an intervention made by Monsignor Bert Van Megan on behalf of the Holy See.
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Egyptian delegate says abortion is brutal murder
The Egyptian delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva Mr. Amr Roshdy Hassan told a session on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, [...] "We must also take a serious look at induced abortions undertaken for whatever reason in the absence of medical force majeure. In this form, abortion, more accurately defined as the brutal murder of a defenceless soul in its mother's womb, is the worst form of extrajudicial killings accounting for tens of millions of lost lives annually. Legalising induced abortion does not diminish the fact that it constitutes a violation of the right to life." [...]
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Catholic Prelate tells British MP's to examine their consciences
A Catholic prelate has told politicians to examine their consciences over how they voted on the British government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Preaching at Mass in the Westminster parliament-building, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, reminded MPs of their duty to protect the common good. He said: "... the vast majority of politicians have given support to various attacks on human life with apparent lack of reproach from conscience." [Telegraph, 5 June]
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Retired Anglican Bishop denies thet human embryos have souls A retired Anglican bishop who was a member of the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has dismissed the idea that every human embryo has a soul, speaking instead of "primitive embryonic material". Rt Rev Lord Harries of Pentregarth called opposition to human-animal hybrids absurd and pointed out that they would only live for 14 days. Such experiments were "for an over-ridingly good purpose" such as curing serious illness. [Daily Mail, 4 June]
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Every embryonic human person is a wonder of creation
The Catholic Bishop of Lancaster, England, has lamented the cheapening of human life. Rt Rev Patrick O'Donoghue said: "Every embryonic human person is a wonder of creation, who possesses the inherent right to realise his or her potential for creativity, love, self-sacrifice, and joy." There was no evidence that animal-human embryos could be of any therapeutic use. Cures for diseases should not be sought "at the cost of de-personalising the unborn and treating them as things to be manipulated and dissected." [Lancaster Guardian, 2 June, and SPUC director's blog, 26 May]
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