“Amnesty
International bases its policies on international law, which is silent on the
point of when life begins.”
This is one of the central arguments
used by Amnesty International in their attempt to portray their ideological
commitment to abortion as a reasoned and moderate approach to a difficult moral
question.
In reality, Amnesty International’s position here is not
correct. The United Nations Convention of
the Rights of the Child (1959), which since 1990 has been a binding treaty
in international law, clearly states:
“The
child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special
safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.” This is a clear statement that, according to international
law, life begins before birth.
This interpretation of
international law is confirmed by the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (1966) which forbids the carrying out of the
death penalty on pregnant women i.e the Covenant recognises that the unborn child is an innocent human being who cannot legitimately be put to death for the crime of the mother.
In promoting the decriminalisation of abortion Amnesty International
are acting contrary to the very principles of international human rights
legislation that they profess to uphold.
Conclusions
The letter that we have been considering is sent by Amnesty
International to those potential donors who have expressed opposition to their
current position on abortion. They seek to hide their ideological commitment to
abortion behind a facade of moderation and a misuse of scientific and legal
arguments.
In fact Amnesty International’s position as stated in the
letter
-
Is contrary to all
accepted scientific evidence
-
Is contrary to the
foundational principles of international law
-
Is inconsistent with
the real nature of Amnesty’s advocacy of abortion on the ground
This letter contains nothing that should
convince anyone who upholds the value and dignity of human life to resume
support of a ‘human rights’ organisation that cannot even uphold the most basic
of those rights, namely, the right to life itself.
