A  new report  by UNFPA's office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia reveals that an estimated 171,000 girls are 'missing' in South Caucasus and parts of South-East Europe while there is a growing surplus of men. Preventing gender-biased sex selection in Eastern Europe and Central Asia contains a dire message of concern on the anticipated impact of the destruction of unborn baby girls and distorted sex ratios:  

"Sex imbalances at birth will also translate two decades on into a surplus of men, a demographic imbalance likely to affect their marriage prospects and one with the potential to increase human trafficking, crime, gender-based violence, and political unrest in severely affected regions."

The report demonstrates that countries experiencing the harmful consequences of this disastrous population control tool--devised by population control activists not only to reduce births by destroying unborn baby girls but to eliminate future mothers-- need to take action to stop the practice which often stems from a cultural preference for boys.

The 2011 resolution passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Prenatal Sex Selection is credited in part as a reason for growing actions for awareness and efforts to stop it.

The resolution brought attention to the fact that prenatal sex selection has resulted in unbalanced sex ratios in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia where the sex ratios at birth varied from 111-112 boys for 100 girls. It condemned the practice "as a phenomenon which finds its roots in a culture of gender inequality and reinforces a climate of violence against women, contrary to the values upheld by the Council of Europe."

As in the UNFPA report, the Resolution warned Member States of the social consequences of prenatal sex selection, "namely population imbalances which are likely to create difficulties for men to find spouses, lead to serious human rights violations such as forced prostitution, trafficking for the purposes of marriage or sexual exploitation, and contribute to a rise in criminality and social unrest."

Included in a list of suggested actions was a call for Member States to "introduce legislation with a view to prohibiting sex selection in the context of assisted reproduction technologies and legal abortion, except when it is justified to avoid a serious hereditary disease".

The UNFPA report describes how abortion, especially the use of abortion pills, is used to fuel this extreme act of gender discrimination:

This new report describes legal bans on sex selection abortions, on technology for sex determination, and on advertisements for such technology as "obvious policy options for targeting prenatal discriminatory behavior" and states that such bans "send a clear signal of governments' official position towards sex selection and provide a basis for inter-ministry cooperation around issues of gender discrimination."

However, pro-abortion politics is injected into the report as it also states that bans on sex selection abortion can have a "risk of infringing on reproductive rights."

It is regrettable that at the recent UN meeting of the Commission on Population and Development the controversial outcome document made no mention of the need to stop the violence and discrimination of sex selection abortion and completely ignored the war on unborn baby girls.

The states of Kansas and Oklahoma became the first to ban second trimester D and E dismemberment abortions during which the abortionist severs the unborn child's body parts and forcefully removes them from the womb. The pro-life laws is based on legislation developed by National Right to Life.

According to the organization, this gruesome procedure was described by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kennedy in dissent to the 2000 Stenberg v. Carhart decision as follows:

"The fetus, in many cases, dies just as a human adult or child would: It bleeds to death as it is torn limb from limb. The fetus can be alive at the beginning of the dismemberment process and can survive for a time while its limbs are being torn off."

Justice Kennedy added in the Court's 2007 opinion in Gonzales v. Carhart that D&E abortions are "laden with the power to devalue human life..."

The new law in Kansas prohibits abortionists from using forceps, clamps, scissors or other similar instruments to remove the unborn baby. Abortion advocates criticize pro-lifers for "renaming" the procedure, but in actuality, their own abortion doctors confirm that the term personifies what the D&E procedure entails. The bill, drafted by the National Right to Life Committee, has also been filed in South Carolina, Oklahoma and Missouri.   

Priests for Life has additional resources available on this procedure, including comments from abortionists. The bill has also been filed in South Carolina, Oklahoma and Missouri.

Additionally, since January, over 300 pro-life bills have been filed in 43 states, mainly bills to ban abortion after 20 weeks gestation or to restrict abortions induced by medication, according to  pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. Others measures involve waiting periods, personhood amendments, informed consent, and a ban on abortions after detection of a heartbeat. Over a dozen states have passed pro-life bills in one chamber and several have passed both chambers, including Idaho, Arkansas, West Virginia and Arizona.

Responding to the growing threats from the Culture of Death, Catholic Bishops, priests, religious and laity of the Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province in Nigeria recently gathered for an International Pro-Life and Pro-Family Conference in Ibadan entitled, Protecting Human Life and Family Values in the Rising Tide of the Culture of Death.

i. Every human being is created in the image and likeness of God. Life is God's gift and this life begins at conception. Thus, every nation, every Institution, every man and woman must respect, protect and uphold the dignity of every human life from the moment of conception till its natural end.

The statement condemned efforts that threaten life and the family, including:

 -The encroachment of the Culture of Death in many African countries.
-the radical promotion of Abortion and contraception by various international organisations through international platforms and humanitarian aid.
-the hyper-sexualisation of our youth through morally objectionable campaigns by these organizations.
-the intentional disregard for our cultural identity and values especially on issues relating to the sanctity of life and the dignity of human sexuality.
-the persistent and pernicious attempts to impose population control on Africa by wealthy philanthropists, donor nations and international organizations.
-the lack of emphasis on the importance of faith and family in human development, public education and in the social order.

Signed by the Most Reverend Emmanuel Badejo the Bishop of Oyo and Obianuju Ekeocha, the statement invites "every member of our human society to the noble service of constantly and courageously defending the sanctity of human life, marriage and family." A short video highlighting the conference is available here.

Pro-lifers across the globe marked the Day of the Unborn Child, March 25th, through marches, forums, Masses and various events celebrating the sanctity of life. In what is being called the largest pro-life event in Latin American history, over half a million people marched for life in the streets of Lima, Peru. The march, organized by the Latin American office of the Population Research Institute, was heralded as a joyful celebration of life. "All those young people singing and dancing tell you that the future will be better for all of us and many unborn babies will be saved from abortions," said a participant.

Thousands took to the streets in Prague in the Czech Republic's 15th annual National March for Life, where marchers stood up for the 20,000 babies killed in abortion each year and called for more support for pregnant women. 77 cities across Romania held local marches and events during a week entitled "Every Life is a Gift", concluding with the 5th annual March for Life in Bucharest. A press release for event said this year's message: "...is that each person is unique and has infinite value. Society has only to gain by supporting persons with special needs and particularly by helping women in pregnancy crisis to give birth and raise the persons they are carrying in their wombs. These persons are gifts to their mothers and also a gift made by the woman to her family and to society."

Marches were held in Moldova for the first time, with the same theme.

A peaceful pro-life rally outside the EU buildings in Brussels, Belgium was physically forced to disband by police. The rally, which was legally registered and organized by Polish pro-life group Fundacja Pro, displayed photos of abortion victims which appeared to trigger a frantic reaction from some protestors who encircled them. Police officers blamed the pro-lifers for the disruption and took their banners and flags.

The 48th Session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD), ended last Friday without an outcome document, an historic first. Developing countries sought an outcome that included key development issues and were frustrated at the profusion of references to population control, adolescent sexual activity, abortion, and comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) for children. The UN press office released a statement summarizing the meeting entitled: Commission on Population and Development Unable to Agree upon Proposed Resolution, Reproductive Rights among Points of Contention.  

Following eight days of closed door negotiations an official Chair's proposal was presented on the last day of the meeting since Member States could not reach agreement on a consensus document. The Chair implored delegations "to go along with the text". They did not and shocked many in the room, including UNFPA and the Commission.

The African Group, represented by Nigeria, was the first to speak and requested an additional ten minutes for discussion. Nigeria's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Sarki, speaking eloquently and diplomatically, stated that the text could not be a "final text" as it still contained "notions, positions and language" that the African Group could not support and language that would impose "impossible and unacceptable commitments" upon Member States. He implored the Chair to "go the extra mile" and "allow further negotiations to remove objectionable elements." (UN Web TV coverage).

The request was refused by the Chair of the Commission, Ms. Bénédicte Frankinet (Belgium), who surprisingly withdrew the text and instead called for a summary of the draft's negotiations.  

The action by the African Group, and the support it received from other countries, demonstrates the growing SRHR and CSE fatigue of many developing UN Member States. Ambassador Sarki stated that in the future UN officials "should refrain from putting language in drafts on which there is no consensus" adding that Member States "have resisted the imposition of unhelpful ideas and concepts on all the membership." 

Specifically, the convention criminalizes organ trading, since many donors are willing participants, criminalizes cooperation in organ trafficking and provides support for victims of trafficking. The convention was initiated by the Council of Europe and so far has been signed by Albania, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. It will go into force after it has been ratified by five countries.

Bishop Cordoba also called for dialogue and a vote in the legislature on the issue: "The court does not make laws, nor is it in their jurisdiction to regulate a department of the government. Only the Congress of the Republic makes laws. They took an unconstitutional shortcut, and we cannot accept it from a juridical point of view."

As the Mexican Supreme Judicial Court prepares to review a law that could open the door to abortion in the country, a petition with over 120,000 signatures is asking the Court to reaffirm the right to life. The Court will soon be considering an abortion liberalization bill from the Mexican state of Tlaxcala and ruling on its constitutionality. The petition drive, sponsored by CitizenGo, warns of the national ramifications if the law is declared unconstitutional. In addition to overturning Tlaxcala's law, the ruling would set a precedent for the rest of the country that usher in abortion. "Respect our legal tradition, our constitutional accords, the international treaties that Mexico has signed and our principles and values as a nation," CitizenGO stated, and emphasized that "the right to abortion does not exist."