A new effort is underway to force African countries that have ratified the Maputo Protocol to overturn laws that protect women and unborn children from the violence of abortion claiming such action is needed to ensure compliance with the abortion provision, Article 14, of the treaty. The African Commission on Human and People's Rights, distinct from the African Union, monitors compliance with the treaty and issued General Comment No. 2 on Article 14.1 (a), (b), (c) and (f) and Article 14. 2 (a) and (c) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa [Maputo Protocol].

Commissioner Soyata Maiga, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, issued the exhaustive pro-abortion General Comment on behalf of the 11 member Commission stating:

"The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol) is the main legal instrument for the protection of the rights of women and girls in Africa. Article 14 of the Maputo Protocol guarantees women's right to health, including sexual and reproductive health."

"Under Article 14 (2) (c) of the Maputo Protocol, States Parties are called upon to take all appropriate measures to 'protect the reproductive rights of women by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus'."

"It should be noted that the Maputo Protocol is the very first treaty to recognize abortion, under certain conditions, as women's human right which they should enjoy without restriction or fear of being prosecuted.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Commission) welcomes the ratification of this important instrument by the majority of AU Member States. However, the African Commission notes that many countries are yet to undertake the necessary legislative reforms towards domesticating the relevant provisions, including in the area of women's sexual and reproductive rights. As such, in many States Parties, there is still limited access by women and girls to family planning, criminalization of abortion, and difficulties faced by women in accessing safe and available abortion services, including in cases where abortion is legalized."

"The African Commission wishes to express its gratitude to Ipas Africa Alliance for its valuable contribution on all issues relating to sexual and reproductive rights and its technical support towards the preparation of the General Comment." [Ipas is an NGO that performs abortions, lobbies for abortion legalization, and trains health personnel in abortion techniques.]

Lawmakers in the 36 countries that have ratified the treaty are among the targets of the General Comment. According to  Ipas, "General Comment No 2 will help policymakers and advocates shape laws, policies and practices to comply with the Protocol-which is the only international human rights treaty that recognizes a discrete  right to abortion (under Article 14).  The Protocol has been ratified by more than two-thirds of the 54 member states of the African Union."

The 10 members of the Commission who approved the Comment,

cast national laws against abortion as "discriminatory" and refer to cherished religious and cultural beliefs as "barriers".  

Such controversial language is usually reserved for publications by pro-abortion NGOs but given the "valuable contribution" of pro-abortion provider and abortion trainer Ipas, it is not surprising.

What is surprising is the discounting of national laws by the Commission which is responsible to the member states of the African Union, many of which restrict abortion.

Read more here.

Discussion and debate continue at the United Nations over the post 2015 agenda and creation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the undefined and expansive concept of "sexual and reproductive health and rights" a key point of contention. The NGO campaign Beyond 2015 issued recommendations for the Post-2015 Political Declaration in the name of its coalition stating:

"It is essential that the post-2015 declaration presents a definitive commitment to the realization of women's full legal, political, social and economic rights, ... as well as full recognition of sexual and reproductive health and rights."

The World Youth Alliance Europe was a member of this campaign that purports to bring together "more than 1000 Civil Society Organisations from 132 countries all over the world" until the campaign released the pro-abortion statement without consensus from members. Among the other member organizations are the Catholic diocese of Yola in Nigeria, the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development of the UK, a number of national Catholic Caritas organizations, and a number of Christian World Vision country organizations.

In response to the campaign's recommendations,  the World Youth Alliance Europe issued its own statement announcing its withdrawal from the campaign and revealing that it had worked to keep sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) out of the recommendations. It reported that working group discussions had become a battlefield over SRHR:

"One of the strongest camps within the campaign was constituted by radical groups calling for recognition of "sexual and reproductive health and rights" (SRHR), which include abortion, as a human right vital for assuring equality between men and women. In reality, those groups, funded by abortion providers, attempt to put abortion at the centre of development policies, in order to safeguard sufficient funding for spreading abortion services in developing countries. Since the North American and European markets have long been almost fully open, abortion providers now seek to export their services to developing economies, using funds devoted to development aid and development policies."

"With the release of this final document, WYA Europe has no other choice than to leave the European Task Force of the Beyond 2015 Campaign, while also rejecting the final document presented at the United Nations after three years of various consultations. It is our fervent hope that Member States gathered at the General Assembly of the UN will not adopt a final SDG document that prioritizes the investment of development aid funds for abortion care, provision, and lobbying efforts."

A report, Neo-Conservative Threats to Sexual and Productive Health and Rights in the European Union, by Zagreb Pride and CESI, with financial support by Open Society, attempts to analyze the success of organizations in defeating the Estrela, Lunacek and Zuber reports in the European Parliament, and the success of the "One of Us" citizen petition. The authors appear surprised at the success of these efforts and greatly underestimate public support for the underlying issues:

"This report focuses on the neo-conservative groups and their political agenda of opposing the laws and policies concerning sexual and reproductive health and rights in the European Union. In the last few years, the member states have witnessed a rise of some new, seemingly grassroots movements."

"It is obvious that the neo-conservative agents achieve more influence than their support in numbers would imply, and that the whole movement is based on a small, marginal, but very well organized and financed group of advocates for a fundamentalist religious and political agenda. It is also obvious that the final goal of the neo-conservative efforts is gaining political power and including catholic religious values in public policy and legislature, which in itself is an attack on a democratic concept of a secular state."

Use of the term neo-conservative is explained:

"In the title for this text, we use a term "neo-conservative threats" to highlight those political agendas that oppose the implementation of SRHR, and which are conducted by a wide variety of social agents, including religious institutions, civil society organizations, citizen initiatives and political parties. Although many of these groups are often referred to as "religious right" and "religious conservative", we wanted to emphasize the political aspect of those movements, which manipulate the religious discourse, and display a growing tendency to use public and political arena, as well as instruments to achieve their goals. Also, in their efforts to impose the "one and only Truth" to the plurality of the contemporary world, those neo-conservative agendas share some common features with fundamentalist movements."

The report discusses how "the neo-conservative political agenda" has used key issues and communicated its messages in a successful way toward "establishing itself as a struggle to defend and protect "endangered" values of "life, family and religious freedom", and a term its proponents love to use as the ultimate argument is "gender ideology". This pseudo-scientific term is used as a political tool to curtail further development of sexual and reproductive health and rights."

The networking and communication skills of the movement are acknowledged and suggestions of linkages to like-minded groups in the US and UK are made.

The report states that it "lists some guidelines for future advocacy actions and strategic confrontations that would limit the influence of neo-conservative interest groups regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights in the European Union. The guidelines have been grouped in three areas: Monitoring, informing and documenting; Reclaiming values and terminology in advocacy, and Networking and building alliances."

The Irish Dail rejected a private Member's bill to legalize abortion for babies diagnosed with a disability. The legislation, sponsored by Independent Socialist Clare Daly, was defeated by a vote of 104-20 on a mainly party line, with Sinn Féin abstaining from the vote. Taoiseach Enda Kenny opposed the legislation, saying the Attorney General had instructed him it was unconstitutional. The Irish constitution recognizes the right to life of the unborn from conception.

Kenny also said the issue is a sensitive and tragic one, particularly for the mother of the unborn child. Tracy Harkin, spokeswoman for Every Life Counts, which represents families facing a life-limiting diagnosis for their child, concurred with this point. She said the bill's language was "outdated, discriminatory and a threat to all children with a disability," and that there is not an agreed upon definition as to what constitutes "fatal foetal abnormalities" and would be included in implementation of bill.

Pro-life groups actively lobbied TD's to oppose the measure. "Those pushing this Bill have completely failed to address alternatives to abortion and the need for a dedicated peri-natal hospice in Ireland for families who find themselves in these deeply difficult situations," said the Pro-Life Campaign's Dr. Ruth Cullen. She added, "lf we decide it is acceptable to end the lives of unborn children because of a pre-natal diagnosis, it undermines all terminally ill people's right to equal respect.  A truly life-affirming society works towards giving all necessary supports to children with these conditions and their families."

The House of Commons passed draft legislation that will make the United Kingdom (UK) the first country to permit "three parent" babies pending a vote in the House of Lords. MPs voted 382 to 128 in support of The Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 from the Department of Health that will permit mitochondrial DNA transfer. The treatment combines the genetic material from the eggs of two women with the sperm of a man to produce an IVF embryo that has DNA from three individuals. The Regulations would permit two techniques: Maternal Spindle Transfer, which modifies the mother's egg pre-fertilization and Pro Nuclear Transfer, which modifies an existing embryo in attempts to prevent the transfer of mitochondrial disease from mother to child.

MPs approved the Regulations despite serious safety, ethical and legal concerns with the untested practice. Not only will mitochondrial donation open the door to the eugenics of "designer children" with the favoring of certain traits over others, it shows no dignity for the preborn child, who is created and destroyed at will. The practice itself is untested.  

The proposal awaits consideration in the House of Lords on February 23rd. Read more here.

The presidents of Chile and the Dominican Republic have issued proposals to legalize abortion in their countries, which currently prohibit all abortions. A legislative debate is expected next month in the Dominican Republic following President Danilo Medina's recommendations to amend the abortion law to include exceptions for cases of rape, incest, fetal disability and health of the mother.

Similarly, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet submitted legislation to the Congress to permit abortions in cases of rape and threats to the mother or baby's life. President Bachelet claimed the change is needed in order for the country to comply with international law and to save women's lives, two points which have been repeatedly discredited. The 2011 San Jose Articles clearly demonstrated that: "There exists no right to abortion under international law, either by way of treaty obligation or under customary international law." Further, recent studies have shown Chile to have one of the lowest levels of maternal mortality in the world while banning all abortions.

Mayor Sally Lee issued an executive order declaring Sorsogon City a "Pro-Life City". The declaration, in honor of pro-life month in the Philippines, affirms protection of the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception and highlights the government's duty to protect and promote the health of all its citizens. Mayor Lee was inspired to focus on her pro-life values after attending Human Life International's Asia-Pacific Congress (ASPAC) on Faith, Life and Family in November 2013 and seeing the aggressive actions by International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in her city. The mayor herself had been targeted by IPPF to push pro-abortion policies because of her support for "reproductive health" policies. Mayor Lee acknowledges she "did not realize the extent to which verbal engineering had been used to promote population control".

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a national campaign to save and educate girls and condemned the sex selection abortions and infanticide of Indian girls. The "Save the Daughter, Teach the Daughter" campaign seeks to fight the cultural preference for sons that has led to the abortion of as many as 12 million girls in India during the past forty years. The campaign calls for a stronger enforcement on laws banning gendercide and encouragement of girls' attendance in school. Prime Minister Modi called for all states, villages and local councils to commit to the goal of seeing 1,000 girls born for every 1,000 boys.   A UN study last year warned the number of girls born in India had reached "emergency proportions" leading to an increase in crimes against women, including kidnapping and trafficking.

Canada's Supreme Court has ruled to allow euthanasia, overturning a ban on physician-assisted suicide. The Court said assisted suicide would be permissible for adults suffering from a severe or incurable illness, though it does not have to be terminal. "We do not agree that the existential formulation of the right to life requires an absolute prohibition on assistance in dying, or that individuals cannot 'waive' their right to life," stated the court. Canada now joins a handful of other western nations that permit euthanasia, such as Belgium, where euthanasia exists for blindness, depression and even terminally ill children.

Calling it a "terrible decision", Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, warned, "Legalizing assisted suicide will create new paths of abuse of elders, people with disabilities and other socially devalued people." The court suspended the ruling for 12 months to give Parliament time to enact new policies on the issue. "The first act of Parliament must be to use the notwithstanding clause to continue to equally protect every Canadian. Then Parliament and the provincial governments must commit to providing Canadians with the care that they require and deserve," urged Schadenberg.

The Supreme Court of India has ordered internet search engines Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to ban ads for clinics that offer prenatal screening for sex determination. Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C. Pant said "India is suffering so much because of its sex ratio." They told the search engines they were in violation of Section 22 of the Prohibition of Sex Selection Act and ordered them to remove the ads and put the policy in their 'terms and conditions of service'. The Court said it will consider requiring the search engines to provide the government with the URLs of those violating the prohibition. Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar said the government would then be able to "stop the presentation of any kind of thing that relates to sex selection and eventual abortion".

Despite the 1994 ban on sex-selection abortion, India has experienced a worsening ratio of girls born to boys. Dr. Gursharan Singh Kainth, director of the Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies in Amritsar, explained that pre-natal sex determination services are still readily available and utilized, and warned of the dangers of rape, robbery and bride trafficking that will arise from a female deficient population. "Put bluntly, it's a competition over scarce women. The daughter deficit will create a society that is much less stable and much more volatile than it would be with a more balanced ratio," said Dr Kainth.

The decision has already had effects in clinics along the India-Nepal border, where doctors are reporting a significant decline in the number of patients seeking sex-selection ultrasound or abortion. The Supreme Court is expected to provide additional guidelines at its next session this month. Further, a civil society initiative "Girls Counts" has launched an online petition urging online shopping and commerce sites to refrain from advertising and selling products and services for sex-selection.