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OAS: Zika-Risk Babies Should Be Aborted
In an April 26th declaration, Luis Almagro, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), advocated for abortion in cases where an unborn child at risk of microcephaly due to his mother’s infection with the Zika virus. In the declaration, which has yet to be translated by OAS into English, Almagro also announced that he will call for a regional forum to discuss the connection between “epidemics and equal rights”:
Once again – unsafe abortion, the dehumanized attention given at birth, the treatment given in obstetric emergencies, the scarce access to modern contraceptive methods, affect the women who are most vulnerable …. The reaction is one of fear, that gives way to despair and frantic actions taken when confronted with a probable unfavorable outcome for the newborn – microcephaly, which is the de-structuring of the brain and other variants… In this context, given the probable incrementalism in concrete cases of the Zika infection, the legal interruption of pregnancy would be justifiable, because of the risk to the life of the woman from the perspective of her dignity, her material conditions necessary for her life and existence, but above all, for her capacity to make autonomous decisions about her life and health, and about the future of her descendants and family unit.….It is an issue about equity and rights, but also, it is a historic opportunity for a qualitative leap in the constant fight towards the right for integral health, universal, of quality, and with security. (HLI translation)
Luis Almagro
Almagro’s declaration follows a March 8th press release from the OAS’s Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR), in which it similarly exhorted OAS Member States to recognize the ‘sexual and reproductive rights’ of women that would invariably allow for the practice of abortion, including in Zika cases:
The IACHR has received alarming information concerning the spread of the Zika virus and its specific impact on women, particularly women of reproductive age. The Commission joins the call of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stressing the importance that all women’s sexual and reproductive rights are fully guaranteed for an effective response to this public health crisis. In this regard, the IACHR urges States to adopt specific preventive and emergency measures to ensure that all women receive the necessary information, support and services, free from any kind of discrimination, to make independent and free decisions regarding their reproductive health and family life in this context.
Experts who follow the OAS expect similar declarations to follow. On April 27, 2016, the next day after Almagro’s declaration, the Delegation of the OAS Member State of Brazil submitted a notice that Brazil will be preparing a draft declaration for a response to the Zika virus, which would be subject to consideration by the OAS Member States at the upcoming OAS General Assembly in June.
The nation that has been hit hardest by the Zika outbreak, Brazil, has not made an official statement in favor of abortion in cases of microcephaly. Abortion is highly restricted in this mostly-Catholic country, but there would be precedent for such a policy: In 2012, the Supreme Federal Tribunal in Brazil decreed that abortion can be allowed in cases of unborn children suffering from anencephaly, a more severe condition involving the unborn child’s brain. And in 2013, Brazil’s Special Secretariat for Women Affairs praised the decision of embattled President Dilma Rousseff to sign into law the distribution of the morning-after pill in rape cases. Given the prevalence of Zika in the nation and claims that the virus causes microcephaly, there has been a national debate regarding legislation that would prevent abortion in cases of microcephaly.
In its Zika situation report (updated on April 28), the World Health Organization corroborated the finding that the Zika virus may cause microcephaly in unborn children. The CDC has since declared that there is a definite link between Zika and microcephaly, but they are not yet sure of the rate of correlation. No one has claimed, however, that all, or even a majority of, pregnant women infected with Zika will definitely have children born with microcephaly.
OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro is known in his home country of Uruguay as a firm supporter of abortion and other progressive political positions. He has been quite frank about his desire to introduce the “Uruguay model” among the OAS Member States since his election in 2015. Under Almagro, the OAS has now attached a theme to its logo: “More rights for more people.” Given his position on abortion, it is clear that these rights will certainly not apply to all people.
In Almagro’s declaration on the Zika virus, he spoke of the role that the OAS could have with its anti-life “equal rights” treatment of the Zika virus, which could be described as his “OAS Zika Model” for the rest of world, towards obtaining pro-abortion legislation in the regions of North America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania:
The Zika virus epidemic is becoming global. Even though it began in the region, the interconnectivity with the world in which we live will take it to other parts of the world. So it is critical that the lessons that emerge from our region reach the rest of the globe.
In response to elevated threats against life coming from the OAS, HLI President Father Shenan Boquet warns defenders of human rights around the world to be alert and take action:
Abortion neither cures the Zika virus nor prevents its transmission; it only kills an innocent human being and harms the mother. As the international elites increase pressure to increase access to abortion as a false solution to what may be a real threat, national and international leaders must be alert. They must be alert both to the status of the real science and the deceptive language used to advance abortion and contraception under the guise of “health” and “rights.” Both abortion and contraception are an offense to the dignity of women, deadly for unborn children, and destructive of social cohesion. In crisis pregnancy cases, women need our understanding and support for themselves and their unborn children.
In previous statements this year, HLI made known its rejection of any suggestion that abortion should be allowed in cases of microcephaly caused by Zika.
HLI Latin America and Spain regional director Mario Rojas added: “HLI will participate as a civil society organization at the OAS General Assembly that will take place in the Dominican Republic this June. We will work hard to stop any anti-life efforts made among OAS Member States to allow for abortion in Zika cases or in any other case.”
The post OAS: Zika-Risk Babies Should Be Aborted appeared first on Human Life International.
Source: http://www.hli.org/2016/05/oas-zika-risk-babies-should-be-aborted/
