Canberra, Australia, May 31, 2007 / 08:33 am
Australia's bishops are discussing Amnesty International’s new policy to advocate for the decriminalization of abortion worldwide, with the intention of presenting a unified response.
Many Christians, especially Catholics, are expected to resign from the human rights organization and perhaps establish an alternative human rights organization because of the new policy. Some expect the Church in Australia to cut its ties with Amnesty altogether.
The group has 2.2 million members and supporters worldwide, many of them are church-based, including about 72,000 in Australia. Amnesty estimates that 500 Catholic schools in Australia have member groups, as do other Christian schools.
Amnesty's international executive board adopted the policy last month as part of its campaign to curb violence against women. Previously Amnesty was neutral on abortion.