We reported last November on a new attempt to broaden the
basis on which terminations of pregnancy may be obtained in Ireland following reports
that a group of Irish women who each decided to abort their babies following a
diagnosis of fetal abnormality were taking a case to the United Nations Human
Rights Committee with the assistance of an international pro-abortion law firm
the Centre for Reproductive Rights (CRR).
It has now become clear that the CRR decided to arrange to
have this done in a drip, drip method by lodging a petition to
have only one of the cases considered by the committee.
We now understand that the CRR filed a second challenge against
Ireland on March 13th 2014 before the same Committee. The Center
filed this case on behalf of Siobhán Whelan, who was they falsely claim ‘forced
by Ireland’s harsh restrictions on abortion’, to travel to the United Kingdom
to obtain a so called ‘safe and legal abortion services’ after she learned that
she was carrying a baby with a fatal anomaly.
The Center filed a petition before the United Nations Human
Rights Committee to hold Ireland accountable for violating Ms Whelan’s basic
human rights by subjecting her to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,
interfering with her privacy, and discriminating against her on the basis of
her gender.
There is no such right as a so called 'right' to abortion in
any International UN Treaty, quite the reverse in fact, the right to life of
all members of the human family is protected in the Universal declaration of
human rights and its associated covenants.
There has however been much criticism of treaty monitoring
committees, such as the committee in question, that they bring the United
Nations into disrepute by reinterpreting the texts to find so-called non-existent
rights.
It must be stated, whist one has every sympathy with a woman
who finds herself in this appalling predicament abortion is not the answer.
Despite the pressure placed on women in this difficult situation to abort their
babies and the tendency to describe the unfortunate children as monsters,
abortion is not the way forward, there is a better way, a caring way of dealing
with the devastating news that an unborn baby has not developed fully and is
suffering from a terminal condition.
It is essential for women in this awful predicament to have
support such as that which can be provided by perinatal hospice care.
The perinatal hospice approach is one that walks with
families on their journey through pregnancy, birth, and death, honoring the
baby as well as the baby's family. Perinatal hospice is not a place; it is more
a frame of mind. It is a way of caring for the pregnant mother, the baby, the
father, and all involved with dignity and love. Even in areas without a formal
program, parents can create a loving experience for themselves and their baby,
and health professionals and family and friends can offer support in the spirit
of hospice care.
