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UK Bishops Appeal Amnesty International to Protect Unborn Life

By Peter J. Smith

LONDON, August 21, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have asked the human rights group, Amnesty International, to refrain from changing its officially neutral position on abortion, and to recognize the unborn as worthy of attention in their “Protect the Human” campaign.

In an August 1 press release, the Catholic Bishops praised the role of Amnesty International for “campaigning for the respect and protection of the human rights of every man, woman, and child”, and mentioned the previous collaborative efforts between Amnesty International and the Catholic Church.

“At the heart of Amnesty’s work there has always been a particular concern for the most vulnerable,” the statement said. “The Catholic Church shares this concern. That is why in many parts of the world the Catholic Church is to be found at the forefront of the struggle for social justice and human rights.”

However, the Bishops insisted that “any comprehensive campaign to ‘Protect the Human’ must include a solid commitment to protect the human rights of the unborn child, among the most defenceless of all humans.”

The Bishops said they were aware that Amnesty planned to embrace abortion advocacy “first by moving to advocate a woman’s right to access to abortion in the case of rape, sexual assault, incest and risk to her life, and next by moving to advocate a woman’s right to access to abortion in general.”

The bishops statement continued, “the former may seem to be a compassionate act towards a woman who has suffered violence and a deeply traumatic experience” however “to take the life of the child in her womb, through another act of violence, can never be justified” adding that evidence indicates “women can suffer severe emotional distress following an abortion.”

The Bishops refused to believe that “removing the rights of the unborn child is consistent with Amnesty’s core values” and warned Amnesty that “such a policy change would, in the eyes of many, compromise Amnesty as a trusted advocate for human rights” and “almost certainly divide its membership and undermine the vital work for which it was founded.”

The Bishops statement concluded with an appeal for Amnesty to extend its mandate by defending the human rights of the unborn.

“We urge Amnesty International to be comprehensive in its campaign to ‘Protect the Human’, to include, therefore, the unborn as among the weakest and most vulnerable, and so remain true to its original vision.”
Amnesty International plans to decide by the end of 2006 on adopting a position on three aspects of abortion including:

- "decriminalization of abortion";
- "access to quality services for the management of complications arising from abortion";
- "legal, safe and accessible abortion in cases of rape, sexual assault, incest, and risk to a woman's life"

Bishop Evans of East Anglia, a longtime supporter of Amnesty International and author of last year’s Amnesty prayer warned, “[M]any Roman Catholics, including myself, would feel obliged—very reluctantly—to withdraw our membership of an organisation which has done great work since Peter Benenson, a Roman Catholic, founded it in 1961.”

Amnesty International will decide its position concerning abortion on demand at its general meeting in August 2007.

The move toward abortion advocacy has caused concern from the Vatican, which has said that Amnesty no longer will be considered a defender of human rights if it makes this move.

To contact amnesty: (Click on Send a message to this section/office)
http://web.amnesty.org/contacts/engindex

To email International Secretariat:
http://web.amnesty.org/contacts/index/eng-000

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

To Amnesty International: As a Person of Colour I Oppose the Discrimination Against the Unborn
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06052601.html
Amnesty International Considers Pushing Enforcement of Abortion as Human Right
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/apr/06042511.html
Amnesty International Abortion Agenda: Decriminalization in '06 and On Demand in '07
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06060208.html

 

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