.- As
the human rights organization, Amnesty International discusses a new
proposal which would lead to widespread support and consideration of
abortion as a “human right” a cacophony of voices have come out
criticizing the plan and urging the group to stay true to its mandate
of protecting the weak and defenseless.
One of those
voices is Dr. Richard Stith, a law professor at Indiana’s Valparaiso
University and an international voice on ethics and human dignity.
In a personal
letter sent to Amnesty International, Dr. Stith wrote that “The
essential problem [with the new plan] is that the world is increasingly
divided over whether such positions would be steps toward or away from
universal human rights.”
“That is, state
enforcement of abortion rights would not just be something that
conservatives might object to—like support of gay rights, for
example—but rather would undercut your credibility with many of your
natural constituencies,” he wrote.
He stressed that
“Many would see you as coming out against certain fundamental human
rights, namely the universal right to life as well as the right of
conscience-based refusal to participate in violence, something that
could not easily be said regarding gay rights or almost any other cause
AI might wish to support.”
Highlighting the
universality of the problem which, he said, extends far beyond
liberal/conservative lines, Dr. Stith wrote that “Many people on the
Left not only consider abortion rights an anti-communitarian expression
of extreme individualism, a claiming of private ownership of the next
generation, but also see rights-talk…as hostile to care and concern for
the needs of women.”
In a form
letter, sent to in response to constituents questioning the potential
policy, Amnesty International said that “members throughout the
movement felt that AI's work to stop violence against women and promote
women's human rights necessitates that we consider whether a more
comprehensive policy on sexual and reproductive rights, potentially
encompassing certain abortion-related issues, would enable AI to be
more effective in these areas.”
To this, Dr.
Smith cites Catherine MacKinnon, who writes about the way “privacy”
language often “thrusts women back to private oppression (where males
will decide to abort their wanted children) and away from public
equality.”
He also says
that the “individual freedom to abort is in reality a freedom for the
powerful more easily to oppress the weak—especially in the third world.
Only after women have achieved true equality could it be argued that
abortion would be truly their own right rather than that of their male
oppressors.”
In short, Dr.
Stith believes that “Any push for abortion by AI at this time could
undercut [their] crucial credibility in the struggle to bring violence
against women and children out into the open—as well as to maximize
support for your core mission of support for political prisoners.”
“Unless you
think that your other aims are so well-secured that they no longer need
much assistance, which I would respectfully consider absurd,” he
warned, “Amnesty International would be well advised not to embark upon
this new endeavor.”
Experts warn: Amnesty International’s support of abortion as ‘human right’ will undercut group’s credibility
Related news
- Scourge of abortion more common among poor women, says report
- Recent polls show Americans shifting to pro-life attitudes
- U.S. pro-life group leads campaign urging Amnesty International not to embrace abortion as ‘human right’
- Pro-life groups question reliability of abortion report, point out contradictions
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