|
Focus on the OAS
|
|
OAS Experts on Violence against Women Call for Legalization of Abortion
A declaration
calling for the legalization of abortion in all countries in the
Americas- from Canada to Chile, including the USA- was issued by the
Organization of American States (OAS) entity that oversees the
anti-violence convention known as Belém do Pará.
The Committee of Experts (CEVI)
of the Follow-up Mechanism to the Inter-American Convention on the
Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women
(MESECVI) issued a Declaration on Violence against Women, Girls and Adolescents and their Sexual and Reproductive Rights (English, Spanish) that recommends countries in the region, in order to guarantee the "...sexual and reproductive health of women and their right to life", establish laws and policies to "enable
the termination of pregnancy, at the very least in the following
cases: i) risk to the life or health of the woman; ii) inability of the
fetus to survive; and iii) sexual violence, incest and forced
insemination".
The committee voiced opposition to the right of conscience declaring: "That
access to health services in general, and services for the
interruption of pregnancy in particular, must be confidential and that
the conscientious objection of health personnel under no circumstances
may result in the violation of women's human rights;"
The declaration
for the most part repeats opinions voiced by UN pro-abortion activist
committees and individuals and NGOs that charge laws that protect women
and children from the violence of abortion "inflict torture" on women
or "deny women reproductive justice". The president of the Center for
Reproductive Rights --an abortion advocacy organization that testified before the CEVI as it was drafting the declaration -- was quick to voice support stating:
"Denying safe, legal care to women
who need to end a pregnancy is an act of violence, and it is a
tremendous measure of progress that a body within the Organization of
American States has recognized this.
"Women
denied this essential health care service face serious threats to
their lives, families, and future as a result of unsafe and illegal
abortions.
"There can be no denying that this is a violation of women's fundamental human rights.
"We
commend the progressive voices within the Organization of American
States for recognizing that abortion is not a crime and women's
reproductive and sexual rights must be respected and protected. And we
will continue working to hold governments accountable for guaranteeing
and protecting women's access to a full range of safe, legal
reproductive health care services as a matter of basic human rights in
the Americas."
This latest action follows a recommendation in 2012 in the Second Hemispheric Report on the Implementation of the Belém do Pará Convention that States Parties to the Convention should "...legalize
interruption of pregnancy on therapeutic grounds; as well as women's
access to such procedures; legalize the interruption of pregnancy caused
by rape;"
This past June the OAS General Assembly approved a resolution encouraging States Parties to the Convention to "implement the recommendations of the MESECVI to promote full compliance with the Convention of Belém do Pará". Guatemala and Ecuador added a pro-life statement of position to the resolution described as: "pursuant to their respective domestic legislation, they recognize the right to life from the moment of conception."
The recent declaration by CEVI also includes: "...guaranteeing
that women and adolescents have immediate access to affordable
contraceptives, including emergency oral contraceptives, thereby
eliminating the discriminatory effects on women of denying them services
on the basis of stereotypes that reduce the primary role of women to
motherhood and prevent them from making decisions about their sexuality
and reproduction."
PNCI notes that
violence against women and girls deserves sound policy recommendations
and not manipulation of the issue to advance access to abortion. Calls
for the legalization of abortion conflict with
established international human rights law, with national policies in
many countries in the region, and with cultural and religious beliefs
that value the lives of children in the womb. The American Convention on Human Rights, passed in 1969 in San José, affirms under Article 4, Right to Life:
"Every
person has the right to have his life respected. This right shall be
protected by law and, in general, from the moment of conception. No one
shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life."
This same article
states that capital punishment shall not "be applied to pregnant
women." The Inter-American human rights system does not make the
innocent child suffer death for the crime of his or her mother. Why
would a committee that is supposed to end violence against women and
girls want to inflict violence and death on a preborn girl or boy for
the crime of her or his father?
|
|
|
Focus on the United Nations
|
|
UN General Assembly Calls for Integrating ICPD Beyond 2014 in the Post 2015 Development Agenda
The new President of the
General Assembly Sam Kutesa (Uganda) convened the United Nations
General Assembly's Special Session (UNGASS) to evaluate world progress
twenty years after the UNFPA organized International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. Many recall the great fight
and defeat of attempts to advance an "international right to abortion"
that occurred at the meeting. In the end, ICPD recognized in paragraph
8.25 of the Programme of Action (PoA) that: "Any measures or
changes related to abortion within the health system can only be
determined at the national or local level according to the national
legislative process."
The Special Session of the GA was poorly attended by Member States with only 90 countries submitting statements
and far fewer being able to read their statements as the session ran
out of time but only after pro-abortion NGOs were able to present their
statements. A number of countries used the opportunity to push what is
claimed to be the "emerging issues" from ICPD -foremost "sexual and
reproductive health and rights". Countries promoting this agenda
included Australia, Brazil,Cook Islands Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, El
Salvador, Estonia, France, Finland, Gambia, Germany, Iceland,
Mozambique, Peru, South Africa, Sweden, Uruguay and U.S.
Events leading up to
the Special Session of the General Assembly and to the April 2014
meeting of the Commission on Population and Development where ICPD
Beyond 2014 was also debated, were manipulated to advance a radical
agenda that could not reach achieve consensus during UN debate owing to
opposition from African, Arab and Caribbean countries. Among the
contrived meetings were the regional ICPD review meetings and their
outcome documents, the most egregious was the Montevideo Consensus where
pro-life countries in Latin America and the Caribbean supposedly
agreed to "urge States to consider amending their laws,
regulations, strategies and public policies relating to the voluntary
termination of pregnancy in order to protect the lives and health of
women and adolescent girls".
The GA Special Session was reported
to have ended with "a near universal call for integrating the ICPD
Beyond 2014 in the Post 2015 Development Agenda". The General Assembly
also "took note of the deliberations of the Special Session on the
findings and recommendations of the review reports, without any
objection or reservation."
This is surprising as the documents contain promotion of the abortion
and the entire SRHR agenda in the strongest of terms; a number of
countries have objected to these documents during negotiations.
An official statement from UNFPA ICPD Beyond 2014 explains:
At the end of the UNGASS, the General Assembly agreed, without objection or reservation, to the procedural conclusion of the session. It reads:
"May I take it that the General Assembly, recalling the reports of the Secretary-General circulated in documents A/S-29/3 and A/S-29/4 and the report of theCommission on Population and Development on its forty-seventh session circulated in document A/S-29/5, wishes to take note of the deliberations of the Special Session on the findings and recommendations contained therein?"
By
this oral decision, the Member States have formally acknowledged the
framework for actions for the follow up to the Programme of Action
beyond 2014 and the steps for further implementation, taking into
account their respective statements in the special session.
The "Framework of Actions for the
follow-up to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on
Population and Development beyond 2014" is set out in A/S-29/3,
the "Recurrent themes and key elements identified during the sessions
of the Commission on Population and Development is set out in A/S-29/4 , and the "Report of the Commission on Population and Development on its forty-seventh session", as set out in A/S-29/5. Together
they define[s]sic the road map for moving forward and include the
regional outcomes and the findings and recommendations of the ICPD
beyond 2014.
The "Framework
of actions for the follow-up to the Programme of Action of the
International Conference on Population and Development beyond 2014", as reported by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is especially problematic and includes the following under section 3:
Strengthen specific sexual and reproductive health services:
Abortion
504. Concrete measures are urgently needed to:
(c) Take action as indicated in the WHO publication Safe Abortion: Technical and Policy Guidance for Health Systems, to remove legal barriers to services;
(d) Ensure that all women have ready access to safe, good-quality abortion
These documents are
supposed to "define the road map for moving forward" and help guide the
post 2015 agenda, but if such efforts are successful globally,
children in the womb will be left behind to die through the violence of
abortion.
|
|
|
Pro-Life Actions
|
|
Northern Ireland: Pro-Life Provision Adopted After Historic Post Card Campaign
The Justice
Committee of the Northern Ireland's Assembly has adopted a pro-life
amendment after Precious Life, a leading pro-life organization, presented it
with a historic 35,000 postcards expressing support for the pro-life
initiative. The post cards, and an online petition on CitizenGO, were
part of Precious Life's Project Justice Campaign, which was launched in
response to the Justice Committee's call for evidence on the Criminal
Justice Bill and the Proposed Amendments. An amendment to the bill,
sponsored by Mr. Jim Wells MLA, bans the commercial provision of
abortion "services" in the country.
Precious Life
organized the post card campaign to demonstrate the strong public
support for Northern Ireland's pro-life protections. Upon the
presentation of the post cards, Wells said he was delighted with the
response from the Irish citizens. "The Precious Life campaign has
really focused people's attention on the need to protect the most
vulnerable members of our community - the unborn child."
He explained the
importance of the amendment, which will prohibit groups like Marie
Stopes from performing abortions in the country: "The last attempt
to stop private abortions in Northern Ireland was blocked by those who
hid behind the excuse that 'there had been insufficient consultation on
the amendment'. The fact that over 35,000 people have supported my
amendment clearly confirms that on this occasion there has been intense
consultation'. 'The campaign to prevent the killing of the unborn child
in private clinics continues with the huge encouragement that so many
people are now behind my amendment."
|
|
|
Pro-Abortion Action
|
|
EU: Petition Calls for Access to Abortion for All European Women
A coalition of pro-abortion European organizations has launched a petition
to the European Parliament calling for access to legal abortion in all
EU Member States. The petition, launched on the "Global Day of Action
for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion", September 28, calls for the FEMM
(Women's Rights and Gender Equality) Committee of the European
Parliament to issue a resolution that "guarantees that human rights
standards related to the access to safe and legal abortion are respected
by all member states."
|
|
|
Legislative News
|
|
San Marino: Votes to Keep Abortion Ban
The small Catholic European nation of San Marino has voted
to maintain its ban on abortion. The country's legislative body, the
Grand and General Council, voted against a proposal to permit abortion
by a vote of 27 to 23. The proposal was put forth by citizens to the
Captains Regent, effectively the country's heads of state. While
abortion remains a crime in San Marino, the Council did not vote to
prosecute citizens who travel abroad for abortions. The 24 square mile
country is surrounded by Italy, where abortion is legal. Further, the
Council did not approve a measure recognizing same-sex marriage.
|
|
Mozambique: New Law Legalizes Abortion
Abortion will soon be legal in Mozambique as President Armando Guebuza signs new legislation
into law before he leaves office later this month. The law, passed by
Parliament this summer, legalized abortion up to 12 weeks for reasons of
physical or mental health, up to 16 weeks in cases of rape or incest,
and up to 24 weeks in cases of "severe fetal malformation." The bill
passed with little objection, attributed to a pro-abortion strategy
with between NGOs and the health ministry and doctors that sought to
train journalists, lobby MPs, and post advertisements promoting abortion
as a public health issue.
|
|
AU: Senate Divided on Sex-Selection Abortion Bill
The Australian Senate debated a motion
to prohibit Medicare coverage for abortions done for sex selection.
Senators were split on the private members' bill which was sponsored by
independent John Madigan. Liberal senator Cory Bernardi argued, "It is unacceptable for taxpayer money to be used to allow one, even one, abortion on gender selection [grounds]." The legislation did not receive a vote and will be revisited next year.
|
|
US: San Francisco Supervisors Reject a Ban on Sex Selection Abortion
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved a resolution rejecting bans on sex-selection abortions. The resolution, authored by Supervisor David Chiu, states: "Sex-selective
abortion bans encourage racial profiling of women by some medical
providers, can lead to the denial of reproductive health care services
to women by some medical providers, and lead to further stigmatization
of women, particularly Asian American women." Chiu claims
sex-selection abortions do not occur in the U.S. and such bans are
merely a form of racism. However, the practice has been
well-documented, and a University of California-San Francisco study
reported its use in the U.S. San Francisco is the first entity to bar
sex selection abortion bans; whereas eight states have enacted bans and
more states have legislation pending. Worldwide, China, India, Australia
and the UK have sex selection bans in place. The UN reports over 160
million girls are missing from the world today.
|
|
|
Executive News
|
|
Spain: Administration Abandons Plans to Reform Abortion Law
The Popular Party-led Spanish government has abandoned
its plans to reform the country's abortion law, despite campaigning in
the 2011 elections to do so. The proposed legislation sought to limit
abortions to cases of rape and health of the mother, reforming the 2010
expansion of the law which permitted abortion on demand up to 14 weeks
gestation, and 22 weeks in cases of fetal anomaly or serious risk to the
mother. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced the Administration's
decision following protests and division in the government and within
his own Popular Party. Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, the
architect of the reform, had said lawmakers needed to balance the
mother's rights with the unborn child's, however; he was unable to
garner enough support for the bill in parliament. Following the Prime
Minister's announcement, Ruiz-Gallardon stepped down from his role as
Justice Minister and resigned from politics following a thirty year
career.
|
|
Philippines: Drafted Criminal Code Excludes Abortion; Angers Abortion Groups
The Philippine
Department of Justice sent its drafted Code of Crimes by the Criminal
Code Committee to Congress and abortion groups are protesting
that it did not include grounds for abortion. An earlier draft 2010 had
provided for cases of "justified abortions", but after a public
consultation, those provisions were removed. A joint letter to Justice Secretary Leila M. de Lima from activists, including the Center for Reproductive Rights, lamented the change. "The
Department of Justice has missed an opportunity to put an end to the
human rights violations women are forced to suffer because of the
country's blanket abortion ban," said Melissa Upreti,
regional director for Asia at the Center for Reproductive Rights. While
Philippine law prohibits abortion, inclusion of 'justified abortion'
could have opened debate on the abortion law in Congress.
|
|
Former USSR President Gorbachev Mourns Aborted Son
Former USSR president Mikhail Gorbachev has revealed the pain he and his wife suffered following the abortion of their first child 51 years ago. In an interview with The (UK) Express,
Gorbachev got emotional sharing the story of his son Sergei, who was
aborted in 1953. Gorbachev made the decision to abort his son when his
wife Raisa's doctor said her heart could not handle the pregnancy
following a bout with rheumatic fever. Gorbachev said the abortion
haunted both he and his wife from then on, and while they did go on to
give birth to a daughter, they never forgot their son.
|
|
|
Religious News
|
|
Indonesia: Bishops Call on Government to Reject All Abortions
Indonesia's Roman Catholic bishops have criticized the recent edit signed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to curb abuse of the nation's 2009 Health Law
allowing abortion in select circumstances. The 2009 law had made
abortion permissible in cases of rape, health of the mother and life
threatening fetal illness or deformity. In a public statement, the
bishops argued abortion should not be legal in any circumstance. "Every human being has the right to live, by the mere fact of living," they stated and added, "The
Church has always shown great respect for human life, from the very
beginning, which is why life must always be defended and protected."
The bishops pointed out that babies conceived in rape are not
responsible for their parentage and should not be penalized,
and expressed strong opposition to abortion for disability and illness.
|
|
|
Issues
|
|
New Studies Bolster Evidence of ABC Link
New studies
out of India bolster the link between abortion and breast cancer (ABC).
An analysis of twelve studies examining the link showed an increase
risk of breast cancer in each study. The average odds ratio for breast
cancer of women with prior abortions was five and half times higher than
women who have not aborted. In fact, the Indian studies show the ABC
link is stronger than any other risk factor. The new studies follow a
meta-analysis of 36 studies in China that showed a dramatic increased
risk of breast cancer for women who have had one or more induced
abortions. Despite the growing evidence, abortion advocates continue to
discredit and deny the ABC link.
|
|
US: More Than Half of Sex-Trafficking Victims Suffered Forced Abortions
A recent US House Committee brought attention to the prevalence of forced abortion in sex trafficking,
including in the U.S. The Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee's
hearing looked at the role of health care professionals in identifying
victims of sex trafficking. One witness, Dr Laura Lederer, former Senior
Advisor on Trafficking in Persons for the State Department and founder
of the non-profit Global Centurion, explained the relation using her
study "The Health Consequences of Sex Trafficking and Their Implications for Identifying Victims in Healthcare Facilities."
Dr Lederer explained that of 107 sex trafficking survivors surveyed,
87.7% sought healthcare services while enslaved. She noted that forced
abortion is an "especially disturbing trend in sex trafficking", with
55% of the women surveyed having had at least one abortion and 30%
having multiple abortions while trafficked.
More than half of
the women said the abortion was not their choice. Forced abortions
perpetuate the cycle of violence of sex trafficking, hiding the crimes
and further victimizing the young women enslaved. The average age upon
entering into sex trafficking in the US is 12 to 14 years old. The "Trafficking Awareness Training for Health Care Act of 2014" seeks to train and equip all healthcare professionals to recognize the signs of sex trafficking and offer assistance.
|
|
Remembering the War on Women and Girls in China
September 25th
marked the 34th anniversary of the enforcement of China's brutal
One-Child Policy, a policy which results in the loss of millions of
unborn children and inflicts horrific abuse upon women. The cruel policy
- which makes siblings illegal - has been implemented through coercion
and violence and resulted in a dramatic gender imbalance in the
population. Despite a reported lessening of the population control
policy for small sectors of the population, China continues to oppress
and victimize Chinese mothers, fathers, and children through forced
abortion and involuntary sterilization.
Women found to be
pregnant with an "unapproved" pregnancy are forcibly aborted, including
in the last month of pregnancy. Families found with children
"over-quota" are forced to pay staggering social compensation fees
equaling years of wages and "unauthorized" children can suffer
alienation and denial of education and health benefits.
Read more here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues
Advancing global respect and dignity for life through law
and policy.
|
www.pncius.org |
Visit us on the web!
www.PNCIUS.org
has been updated with expanded information on Human Dignity and critical
issues including: Abortion, Bioethics, Child Mortality, End of life issues,
Infanticide, Maternal mortality and Sex-selective abortion.
|
Contact PNCI |
|
Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues
P.O. Box 20203
Washington, DC 20041
703-433-2767
info@pncius.org
All news articles include links to original source. PNCI cannot verify that the
information contained in the news articles is accurate.
|
|
|