New York City, N.Y., Apr 8, 2019 / 11:01 am
The Holy See's representative to the United Nations told the UN Commission on Population and Development that insistence upon a "right to abortion" at their annual spring meeting detracts from the commission's efforts to address the real needs to mothers and children.
After UN representatives from European countries called for "speeding up progress" toward "universal access to sexual and reproductive services, including safe and legal abortion," Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Holy See's Permanent Observer to the UN, spoke out.
"To formulate and position population issues, however, in terms of individual 'sexual and reproductive rights' is to change the focus from that which should be the proper concern of governments and international agencies," Auza said April 3.
"Suggesting that reproductive health includes a right to abortion explicitly violates the language of the ICPD, defies moral and legal standards within domestic legislations and divides efforts to address the real needs of mothers and children, especially those yet unborn," the archbishop continued.