LISBON, Portugal, April 13, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Personhood USA is partnering with Human Life International and LifeSiteNews.com to co-host the Global Pro-life Unity Summit. The event will take place on May 4th and 5th in Lisbon, Portugal and will feature representatives from countries around the world including Portugal, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Hungary, Mexico, Romania, and Ireland.
Pro-life advocates in Portugal are in the midst of a national personhood petition. The Pro Referendo Vida campaign has collected half of the 75,000 signatures needed to convene a national referendum and add a pro-life amendment to the Constitution recognizing the “inviolability of human life from the moment of conception until natural death.” The Global Pro-life Unity Summit will call attention to the Portuguese movement and present an opportunity to demonstrate the wide, international support for the national referendum.
Personhood USA is currently working in all 50 states and on the federal level to advance personhood legislation and constitutional amendments that affirm the rights of all human beings regardless of their size or age. In 2009, Personhood USA traveled to the Dominican Republic to support the people in the ratification of a constitution that established personhood for every human being. “The right to life is inviolable from conception until death,” it reads.
Hungary adopted a new national constitution which took effect on January 1st of this year. Dubbed “a constitution for the 21st century” by its authors, and approved by a vote of 262-44, Article 2 states: “Human dignity is inviolable. Everyone has the right to life and human dignity; the life of a foetus will be protected from conception.”
Eighteen states in Mexico have passed measures enshrining into law full personhood protections for preborn children. The Supreme Court of Mexico ruled in September of last year to uphold the constitutional amendments of Baja California and San Luis Potosi (cases: 11/2009 and 62/2009).
Ireland has continued to remain abortion-free since their independence in 1922. In 1983, the people of Ireland added an article to their constitution that “acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”
“Around the globe, the pro-life movement is uniting to recognize the basic human rights of all people and protect life from conception to natural death. These monumental efforts will change the course of history in the 21st Century,” said Keith Mason, President of Personhood USA. “The Global Pro-life Unity Summit is an opportunity to grow and explore partnerships in support of the value of human life.”
LifeSiteNews.com will carry exclusive coverage of the summit. Details and updates from the conference will be available on LifeSiteNews.
“The international pro-life movement is vastly outspent and does not hold the seats of power. But we do speak with the voice of the people, especially in the developing world, those who are in the crosshairs of the massive population control juggernaut,” added Stephen Phelan, spokesperson for Human Life International. “It is crucial that we work together to defend life at every stage, for every person regardless of his or her place in society. Human Life International is proud to be working with our friends at Personhood USA and all of the other great pro-life organizations represented.”