by Hilary White
MEXICO CITY, March 8, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Yesterday, the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, the legal arm of the U.S. pro-abortion movement, won a case at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights when the Mexican government agreed to guarantee access to abortion in the case of pregnancies due to rape.
Abortion “rights” extremists have been pushing for years through legal means at such bodies as the European Court of Human Rights to have unrestricted access to abortion declared a “fundamental human right.”
“This is the most important legal victory for women in Mexico in a decade,” says Luisa Cabal, Director of the International Legal Program at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “It is the first time a Latin American government has acknowledged that access to legal abortion is a human right, and now the Mexican government is required to ensure that this right is not violated.”
The Mexican case was built around the 1999 rape of a then-13 year-old Mexican girl, Paulina del Carmen Jacinto Ramírez. Paulina and her family were convinced by doctors and pro-life counselors at Mexicali’s General Hospital not to abort her child.
Hospital director Dr. Ismael Avila Iñiguez and other physicians at the hospital refused to perform the abortion on the grounds that it violated their moral principles. Avila Iñiguez was briefly detained by authorities for his refusal, and later threatened by the district attorney with 36 hours in jail and a fine. Pro-life groups paid for the delivery and provided the family with additional money for childcare.
Six months after the birth, Paulina was approached by feminists affiliated with the international abortion lobby who had launched a human rights complaint claiming that Paulina had been denied her “right” to an abortion. Critics charged that Paulina had been the victim of “closed mindedness” and “pro-life fanatics.” Since then, Paulina has been made a cause celebre for abortion zealots working to overturn legal protections for the unborn especially in predominantly Catholic countries.
It is not clear how the Mexican agreement will affect the rights of pro-life doctors, nurses and counselors or the freedom of the Catholic medical community to maintain public opposition to abortion. The case garnered enormous media attention when the Catholic authorities in her hometown refused permission for one of the abortion activists to act as godmother to Paulina’s son.
The bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Monsignor Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, criticized politicians for trying to take advantage of the controversy by supporting abortion. “With the aim of getting votes to win, they don’t care if they stain their souls with innocent blood,” the bishop said.
The government has offered a financial “compensation” package to Paulina. In addition, the Mexican government will issue a decree regulating guidelines for access to abortion for women who have been raped.
Pressure is mounting in many countries against doctors and other professionals who object to abortion on moral grounds. A recent European Union document recommended making such conscientious objection illegal in EU countries.
In the Mexican case, the pro-abortion group, Human Rights Watch, has recommended punishing those who obstruct legal abortions, including revoking the medical licenses of doctors who refuse to perform the procedure on moral grounds.
Read previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Pro-Abortion Group Takes Mexico to International Human Rights Body over Abortion
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/mar/02031103.html