Dear ProLife Colleague, Be prepared to be labeled as “one who denys fundamental human rights. That is the way we are being looked at by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Below is a report, which can also be found in its entirety at: http://www.c-fam.org/fridayfax/volume-14/un-official-says-abortion-is-a-human-right,-secretary-general-endorses-report.html Sep 22, 2011 UN Official Says Abortion is a Human Right, Secretary General Endorses Report By Douglas Sylva, Ph.D. NEW YORK, September 22 (C-FAM) While world attention may be focused on the UN General Assembly as it grapples with Palestinian statehood, the methodical drive by United Nations officials to promote legal abortion internationally goes on largely unnoticed. During the summer months, when press coverage of UN activities is minimal, the UN Secretariat released a report from the UN Human Rights Council calling on all nations to accept that women and girls must be granted access to legal abortion in order for them to fully enjoy their human rights. The report, written by UN Special Rapporteur Anand Grover, links abortion on demand with the fundamental right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. According to Grover, “Criminal laws penalizing and restricting induced abortion are the paradigmatic examples of impermissible barriers to the realization of women’s right to health and must be eliminated.” Grover goes on to say that legalizing abortion, alone, is not enough for states to avoid violating women’s right to health. States must also actively promote the procedure. “States must take measures to ensure that legal and safe abortion services are available, accessible, and of good quality. Safe abortions, however, will not immediately be available upon decriminalization unless States create conditions under which they may be provided. These conditions include establishing available and accessible clinics; the provision of additional training for physicians and health-care workers; enacting licensing requirements and ensuring the availability of the latest and safest medicines and equipment.” Grover also claims that women must have access to abortion in order to protect their mental health. According to Grover, “while the psychological impact of seeking an illegal abortion or carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term is well documented, no corresponding evidence supports the existence of long-term mental health sequelae resulting from elective abortion.” AAPLOG note: this last sentence shows abysmal ignorance of the world literature on the subject. See: https://www.aaplog.org/complications-of-induced-abortion/induced-abortion-and-mental-health/
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