The Pro Life Campaign has called on the UN’s Human Rights Committee to defend the right to life of the unborn when scrutinising Ireland’s human rights record at a hearing in Geneva today. The Pro Life Campaign is one of the official NGOs represented at the two day review which will examine several issues including the right to life.
Commenting from today’s hearings in Geneva, Pro Life Campaign representative and barrister Lorcan Price said:
“There is no right to abortion in international law. Well-funded abortion industry lobby groups are seeking to mislead the United Nations Committee here in Geneva today by suggesting that the unborn child has no right to life. Such a suggestion is contrary to human rights law”
He continued:
“As a society, we cannot claim to be genuine defenders of human rights unless we also protect the right to life of unborn children. What’s at stake in this debate is whether or not we respect the inherent value of every human life. The pro-choice groups pushing hard for abortion at today’s hearings in Geneva always sidestep the issue of what rights should be afforded to unborn babies throughout the full nine months of pregnancy. And they run a mile from discussing the horror of situations where babies who survive abortions are left to die as happens in England.* It’s time that abortion advocates face up to the reality of what legal abortion involves.”
“There is also a false impression being created by pro-choice groups here that Ireland’s new abortion law is extremely restrictive. They know this is not the case and that the law now permits abortion throughout the full nine months of pregnancy in the case of threatened suicide even though there is no medical evidence to back it up.”
“I sincerely hope the UN Human Rights Committee will defend the right to life and reject the international push from US based groups like the Center for Reproductive Rights who are determined to impose an abortion regime on Ireland. The UN knows that there is no international right to abortion in law. If the UN were to adopt a position explicitly endorsing abortion, it would do incalculable damage to its credibility as a protector of genuine human rights, Mr. Price concluded.
* The Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health, 2007 commissioned by the UK Government, found that 66 infants survived NHS termination attempts in hospitals in England and Wales during 2005. Instead of dying during the abortion procedure as intended, they survived and were able to breathe unaided. But they received no medical attention or care and were left in corners to die. One of the babies lived for ten hours.Sh
