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Amnesty International Demands that Mexico Force Doctors to Do Abortions

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

MEXICO CITY, February 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Amnesty International, a "human rights" organization that opposes the right to life of unborn children, is now demanding that Mexico force doctors to do abortions.

In simultaneous protests held last Friday in Mexico City and Madrid, Amnesty International and other pro-abortion organizations denounced the Mexican government for refusing to require physicians to perform abortions on rape victims and provide abortifacient "emergency contraception."

The protests were held in response to the decision to alter Mexico's Official Norm 046 on treating victims of sexual violence. The original text, approved by the government last July, required health professionals to perform abortions on rape victims.  The final version, however, was altered by Mexico's Secretary of Health Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos, to protect the right of doctors to refuse to participate in abortions.

Alberto Herrera Aragón, Amnesty International's representative in Mexico, claims that the change violates international treaties signed by Mexico, which he says require abortions to be made available to women.

According to the Spanish news service Terra, the text of Amnesty International's (AI) petition, which has been signed by 5,000 people worldwide, says that doing abortions for rape victims is "an obligation of the Mexican government" and "sexual and reproductive rights should not be permitted, but guaranteed."

However, Jorge Serrano, Director of Mexico's National Pro-Life Committee, told LifeSiteNews, "That's not true.  Mexico has signed the Treaty for the Rights of the Child to protect ... life. However, they are doing abortions, in violation of those treaties." Serrano says his group will hold a counter-protest in front of the Secretariat of Health tomorrow at 11 am.

Piero Tozzi, Executive Vice President of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), told LifeSiteNews that Amnesty's claims are baseless.

"There is no 'right to abortion' under international law," wrote Tozzi.  "Amnesty is particularly disingenuous in claiming there is, since as late as 2005, Amnesty used to state that no such right existed. The only thing that changed was a policy decision by Amnesty to abandon neutrality and objectivity on the issue and join radical pro-abortion groups like the Center for Reproductive Rights in pushing an abortion agenda on the developing world."

Among the protesters were several young women naked from the waist up, who held placards with slogans such as "access to health services for all women" and "guarantee access to legal abortion for the victims of violence."

Participating groups included "Catholics for the Right to Decide," a group that has been repeatedly denounced by Catholic Church officials for misleading Catholics about Church teaching on abortion, as well as Mexican organizations advocating the legalization of abortion.

Amnesty International, which for many years took no position on abortion, began to support the practice as a "human right" in 2007.  As a result, the pope and other Catholic bishops withdrew support from the organization.

Contact Information:

Amnesty International

Related LifeSiteNews coverage:

It's Official - Amnesty International is Now An Abortion Lobby Group - Catholics Boycott
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07082001.html

Amnesty International Abortion Agenda: Decriminalization in '06 and On Demand in '07
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06060208.html

Amnesty International Attacks Nigeria Ban on Homosexual "Marriage"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09012812.html

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