There's a bold new move within the European Union to protect preborn children -- a move designed to take the publicity surrounding Amnesty International's recent turn towards pro-abortion policies and turn it around into a fresh appreciation of life, justice and compassion for the innocent. This effort, called Amnesty for Babies Before Birth, is being led by Kathy Sinnott, an Irish independent MEP, and the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children in England.Clicking on the title of this post will take you to Ms. Sinnott's speech in Geneva last week which kicked off the campaign but here's an excerpt...
The baby before birth is the most vulnerable human being, unable to speak on its own behalf and in need of the strongest possible advocacy at UN level, Council of Europe level, EU level and state level, and at every level within the state.
When we talk of amnesty, we may think of someone who has been condemned to death and for whom a pardon or amnesty is sought: perhaps a political prisoner who is interned simply for opposing a dictatorial government. 'Amnesty' is actually related to the Greek amnestos which means 'the forgotten ones'.
Do we need to ask who are the forgotten ones in our society? Who are excluded when it comes to human rights? Babies once conceived, and prior to birth, in the society in which we live are often terminated and truly become the forgotten ones, the amnestos. Their human right to life is ignored.
Through the political process of many countries, laws have been enacted allowing babies to be routinely condemned to death every day. There is no trial, no judge, no jury and no appeals procedure; just a death sentence. If [these aborted children] are not strictly political prisoners, they are certainly prisoners of politics in need of amnesty.
We in this campaign must ask why they are being killed. What is their crime? The babies' so-called crime is just being there. They commit the crime of being present and inconvenient; the crime of being disabled, being a girl, being a second child or, in the west, simply being conceived.
Amnesty International is currently consulting its members all over the world on the question of whether to campaign actively to make abortion a human right. Sadly, some countries have already decided that it should be a human right. The targeting of the baby before birth by powerful international organisations and all attempts to make abortion a human right are unfair, unjust and contrary to the human rights of the baby before birth. Babies need strong advocacy to bring their plight to the world's attention.
Abortion is not, and can never be, a human right. Abortion ignores the right to life of innocent and vulnerable babies. We insist we must have an amnesty for babies...
By the way, Ms. Sinnott was born in Chicago. In addition to her responsibilities as a member of the European Parliament, she is a proud enough mom and homemaker to make those offices the key points of her official curriculum vitae. She is also the the founder of the Association for the Severely and Profoundly Mentally Handicapped (1983-1997) and, since 1996, Founder/Chair of the Hope Project.
If you would like to send along a word of thanks to Ms. Sinnott for her efforts, check out this page for an e-mail address.
