Catholic Church Tells United Nations Abortion Doesn’t Liberate Women 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 5, 2007
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) — The representative of the Holy See to the United Nations told a panel meeting to discuss the status of women that abortion does not liberate women or advance their rights. The UN is Commission on the Status of Women is meeting to follow up on the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Archbishop Celestino Migliore said that the mistreatment of women and the relegation of women to a second class status in some parts of the world is only exacerbated by abortion.
He said abortion "is ironically employed by women against women" and said abortion is wrongly "often considered a tool of liberation."
Migliore said that the denigration of women also happens before birth through infanticide and sex-selection abortions.
"This appears to be due to the inferior status bestowed upon women in certain places and upon female infants in particular," he told the UN. "In some local traditions they are thought of as a financial burden and are thus eliminated even before birth."
"appears to be due to the inferior status bestowed upon women in certain places and upon female infants in particular," the Catholic official explained.
"Even those allowed to live are sometimes considered as if they were a piece of property best disposed of as soon as possible," Archbishop Migliore said.
The representative said local communities that engage in these kinds of practices need help to reform and promoted groups and educational programs to combat it.
"Raising awareness is a simple and effective means to combat this phenomenon at the local level," he said.
"Organizations with a proven track record already exist and could assist communities in this way. Local and national politicians also need to be brought to account for their policies in this regard," Migliore concluded.
The comments also come just days before International Women’s Day, which will be celebrated around the world on March 8.
