According to AI “With the prevention of violence against women as its major campaigning focus, Amnesty International’s leaders committed themselves anew to work for universal respect for sexual and reproductive rights.”
Their decision has alienated the catholic church, leading to the removal of support for AI and leading one school to replace AI with newly formed Benenson Society named after the catholic lawyer who founded Amnesty.
English Catholic Bishop Michael Evans ended his 30 year membership with Amnesty International after their announcement.
The Pope's response:
So, what will happen to Amnesty International now? Will there be long ranging repercussions. Will they change their policy in light of the church's response? Or will another organization, group, or individual come along to provide the support lost?"It was in Europe that the notion of human rights was first formulated. The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every other right, is the right to life itself. This is true of life from the moment of conception until its natural end. Abortion, consequently, cannot be a human right – it is the very opposite. It is “a deep wound in society”, as the late Cardinal Franz König never tired of repeating.
“In stating this, I am not expressing a specifically ecclesial concern. Rather, I wish to act as an advocate for a profoundly human need, speaking out on behalf of those unborn children who have no voice. In doing so, I do not close my eyes to the difficulties and the conflicts which many women are experiencing, and I realize that the credibility of what we say also depends on what the Church herself is doing to help women in trouble.
“In this context, then, I appeal to political leaders not to allow children to be considered as a form of illness, nor to abolish in practice your legal system’s acknowledgment that abortion is wrong. I say this out of a concern for humanity.”
In the Middle Ages, when the Catholic church withdrew its support or disagreed with anyone, it held lasting repercussions. Books were banned, philosophers and scientists silenced and new ideas squashed. Will their decision now change anything or nothing at all.
Personally, I think AI has made a big mistake.
I think the policy is absolutely disgusting....what has abortion got to do with human rights anyway?
ReplyDeleteI am a long-time member of Amnesty and was horrified when I discovered what they were doing - it was only by chance I hit on an excellent blog about the issue (unfortunately I haven't been able to find it again), but there are obviously people campaigning for this, so with a bit of luck there'll be a new human rights organization soon that we can support.