Rome, Italy, Jun 18, 2010 / 13:58 pm
The Holy See’s Permanent Observer at the United Nations, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, said this week that countries must combat maternal deaths with policies that respect the lives of both the mother and the unborn child.
During his June 14 address at the U.N. Human Rights Council, Archbishop Tomasi said, “the policies for combating maternal mortality and infant mortality should strike a balance between the rights of the mother and those of the child, in that both have rights, the first of which is the right to life.”
“The maternity clinics and hospitals promoted by the Catholic Church do precisely this: they save the lives of both mothers and children, those born and those yet to be born,” he declared.
According to Fides news agency, the archbishop said reducing maternal mortality is possible with higher per capita income, greater education for women and improvements in health care systems.