PO Box 20203, Washington, D.C. 20041
2008 November
Focus on the United States: The Election of Barack Obama to Presidency
View from PNCI
The election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States of America has been acknowledged worldwide as an historic moment. For pro-life advocates globally, the election of a radical pro-abortion president requires us to adjust our thoughts and actions to prepare for an anticipated wave of pro-abortion pressure. Pro-lifers should 'prepare for the worst' in an Obama presidency.
It is expected that international organizations that perform or promote abortion will once again receive US funding and the US will once again become the largest donor to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). UNFPA recognizes China with its coercive one child per couple policy as a “model country” for population control. The personnel selected by the Barack Obama and his advisers to oversee US foreign policy and programs are expected to share Obama’s radical pro-abortion views including support for late term abortions.
There will be a stark difference on social issues compared to President Bush who sought to advance a culture of life. PNCI commits itself and urges its pro-life colleagues worldwide to work harder, smarter, and more effectively as together we confront new and greater challenges to laws and policies that protect unborn children and their mothers from the violence of abortion. –Marie Smith, Director PNCI.
View from Kenya Prominent Kenyan Physician Fears Actions of Obama’s Administration
The head of the Catholic Doctors’ Association of Kenya, Dr. Stephen Karanja, fears the election of Barack Obama because of Obama’s pro-abortion and anti-family positions. (Obama’s father was born in Kenya.) Dr. Karanja, an obstetrician and gynecologist, expressed frustration at the election and the expected exporting from the US of an ideology focused on abortion and population control to countries in Africa and around the world.
Instead Karanja suggests the US can learn from Africa. He stated, “There is something in Africa we have that they should come and learn. Something called ‘respecting the family’ respecting the elders, respecting the children, hoping for the best, and not being ruled. And people from the west have a problem with this.”
He believes that the “one thing” many Kenyans fear from the Obama administration is the renewal of the attacks on the family and the unborn. “The only resource we have that is truly ours,” he said, “is our people. Don’t attack them and we’ll be alright. And this administration of Obama, is going to be a nightmare for our people.”
Focus on China:
China ’s One-Child Policy Receives International Attention and Criticism
China’s one-child policy and subsequent forced abortion and sterilization program has recently come under increased scrutiny. The high profile case of a Muslim woman, a member of the Uyghur minority in China’s Xinjiang region who was forcibly removed from her home by over twenty cars of police for a mandatory abortion, recently received international attention. Two U.S. Congressmen, Chris Smith and Joe Pitts, and the U.S. ambassador in Beijing called on the Chinese government to stop the forced abortion. Arzigul Tursun, who is over six months pregnant with her third child, was threatened with the government seizure of her family’s home and assets if she did not submit to an abortion. Following her escape from a government hospital, and in response to international pressure, the Chinese authorities allowed Tursun to return home, claiming she was not healthy enough for the abortion.
Additionally, China’s forced abortion and sterilization policy has drawn criticism from the a new United Nations report on violence against women. In a recently released report, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which usually promotes abortion whenever possible, urges China to investigate the abuse and violence against ethnic minority women by family planning officials - including forced abortion and sterilization— and calls on the government to address the negative effects the one-child policy has on sex-selection abortion and the adverse sex ratio.
Legislative News
Australia: Parliament Debates Federally Funded Abortions
Australia’s Parliamentary Group on Population and Development has issued a statement calling for federally funded abortions of disabled babies, claiming disabled children are a burden on taxpayers. The statement was issued as the Parliament is debating whether the national Medicare program should cover abortions and was submitted on behalf of the entire caucus and its 41 members. However, 7 members have requested their names be removed and written against it, including Senator Boswell. "Its underlying premise that some lives are worth less than others because they will cost too much to support, this is the kind of thinking that was typical of the Hitler regime," he told the Senate.
Jamaica: Legislators Squirm When Faced with Abortion Images
During a Joint Select Parliamentary Committee hearing on Jamaica’s Offences Against the Person Act, members viewed graphic videos of abortion. The presentation of Dr. Doreen Brady West of the Coalition for the Defense of Life argued against the argument that legalized abortion reduces maternal deaths. The disturbing images featured brought attention to the reality of abortion and made many members visibly uncomfortable.
Executive
Uruguay: President Vetoes New Legislation to Legalize Abortion, Pro-Life Parliamentarians in Latin America React
Uruguay President TabareVazquez has vetoed legislation to legalize abortion on demand in the first trimester. The bill that would permit abortions for any reason during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy recently passed both the House and Senate, but does not have the support needed to override the veto. This is the second time the president has vetoed legislation to legalize abortion. He stated: "Our laws cannot ignore the reality of the existence of human life in the gestation period, as scientific evidence clearly shows. It's more appropriate to look for a solution based on solidarity, giving a woman the freedom to make other choices and thereby save both her and the baby."
Pro-life parliamentarians reacted with praise for President Tabare Vazquez. In Argentina, Senator Liliana Negre de Alonso, President of Pro-Life Parliamentarians and Governors for World Action, sent the president a letter of congratulations for his brave decision to veto the legislation legalizing abortion. In Peru, the third Vice President of the Congress, Fabiola Morales also publicly congratulated President Tabare Vazquez , stating that his courage and willingness to stand up for the lives of unborn children in vetoing the legislation was a lesson for all pro-life politicians in Latin America.
UK : No Plans to Expand Abortion to Northern Ireland
UK Secretary of State Shaun Woodward has issued assurances against any attempts to extend the UK’s pro-abortion law to Northern Ireland. Legislators in Parliament have been moving to amend the 1967 Abortion Act to include Northern Ireland, despite heavy opposition by Irish people. Secretary Woodward insisted that the legalization of abortion is an issue for the Assembly of Northern Ireland.
El Salvador : President Rejects Treaty Promoting Abortion to Youth
El Salvador President Elias Antonio Saca has declared he will not sign the Ibero-American Convention on the Rights of Youth (ICRY), claiming it would promote abortion and consequently violate El Salvador’s constitution. Pro-life advocates point out that the treaty’s promotion of “sexual and reproductive health” includes abortion and laud President Saca’s decision. Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia have also decided not to sign the treaty.
Judicial
Bolivia: Supreme Court Ruling to Make Abortions Available
A recent Ipas release claims credit for the recent ruling by the Bolivian Supreme Court ordering all lower courts to implement Article 266 of the Penal Code, permitting abortion for the life and health of the mother and in cases of rape or incest. Bolivia’s law allows abortion in these cases, but abortions are rarely performed. Ipas credits itself with laying the groundwork which led to this decision by working with physicians, lawyers, government and court officials, and international NGOs for the past two years on the issue. Ipas is informing Bolivian legal and health sectors of the decision, and is distributing protocols for abortion and CEDAW statements to the lower courts for their use in implementation of the law. Pro-life advocates throughout Latin America and Africa need to closely monitor the actions of Ipas in their individual countries.
Ireland : Pro-Life Law Challenged in EU Court
The ongoing case before the European Court of Human Rights challenging Ireland’s pro-life laws is being defended by pro-life groups . The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), the European Centre for Law and Justice on behalf of MEP Kathy Sinnott, and the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of the Family Research Council (FRC) have submitted observations requesting the Court "to recognise the primacy of the right to life and the authority that people in the Member States have to extend it to unborn children. Ireland's laws legitimately and reasonably protect both the unborn and women without violating [European Convention on Human Rights] rights."
The EU Court is considering the case of 3 Irish women who claim their human rights were violated when they were denied abortions and left to obtain them out of the country. Arguments in the case are expected to be heard in early 2009.
Issues
Italy: Court Orders Death by Dehydration
An Italian court has ordered the death of a young disabled woman by the removal of her food and hydration tube. Eluana Englaro, who has been living in a hospice for 14 years, sustained severe injuries in a car accident and is in a state of minimal consciousness. The religious order which runs the hospice where Englaro resides, the Sisters of Lecco, are refusing to carry out the court order. Javier Cardinal Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, called the court’s decision inhuman. “The right to die does not exist. To stop giving food and drink to Eluana is tantamount to committing murder. It means letting her die of hunger and thirst, condemning her to a monstrous end,” he said.
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The Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI) is committed to networking members of democratically-elected legislatures in efforts to advance respect for the inherent value, worth, and inviolable dignity of every human being from the first moment of existence. PNCI issues the Parliamentary Network E-News to provide lawmakers, and those who work with them, news from various sources on the international threat to pro-life laws and current legislative and judicial actions on critical life issues challenging parliamentarians around the world. PNCI is a project of Life Issues Institute.
All news articles include links to original source. PNCI cannot verify that the information contained in the news articles is accurate. info@pncius.org
