Hope In The Legal And Political War To Defend Life

• By Alan Sears
• Posted Oct 18, 2011
• No Comments »

The tide is slowly but surely turning in the war against abortion. In Arizona, a decision you recently read about – in which, thanks to you, ADF and our allies helped persuade an appellate court to uphold the state’s Abortion Consent Act – is already having a dramatic impact. (The Act prevents anyone who’s not a doctor from performing abortions, protects health care workers who for reasons of conscience object to helping with abortions, and requires notarized parental consent for minors seeking abortions.)

The court’s ruling led Planned Parenthood to stop performing abortions at seven of its abortion businesses and – just two months later – abortions in the entire state are already down by one-third from what they were a year ago. Praise and thanks be to God!

With opinions changing (as the evils of abortion are increasingly exposed), those pressing worldwide for the expansion of abortion “rights” are more and more determined to advocate for extermination of life in the womb. Even now, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other treaty-monitoring bodies are working to force governments to embrace their agenda and establish an international right to abortion. (Hey CEDAW, how about the millions of murdered, unborn women…?)

That’s why, as president, CEO, and general counsel for ADF – which is recognized by the UN as a non-governmental organization (NGO) with special consultative status – I recently joined with more than 30 religious and government leaders to sign the San Jose Articles, calling on governments around the globe to resist the radical abortion agenda.

“There exists no right to abortion under international law; either by way of treaty obligation or under customary international law,” these articles read, in part. “No United Nations treaty can accurately be cited as establishing or recognizing a right to abortion. CEDAW and other treaty monitoring bodies have directed governments to change their laws on abortion … Assertions by international agencies or non-governmental actors that abortion is a human right are false and should be rejected.

“There is no international legal obligation to provide access to abortion based on any ground, including but not limited to health, privacy, or sexual autonomy, or non-discrimination,” the articles add, concluding: “Governments and members of society should ensure that national laws and policies protect the human right to life from conception. They should also reject and condemn pressure to adopt laws that legalize or de-penalize abortion.”

No one, of course, should be allowed to decide that a human life is worthless. Every innocent life deserves to be protected. That’s why leaders from across the theological and professional spectrums have come together to sign these San Jose Articles, so that governments will recognize and affirm that all human life should be protected from conception until death. It’s our hope that these articles will empower these governments to stand up to the demands of CEDAW and other groups and protect all human life.

Please pray for those in authority who will be reading these Articles – and deciding their nations’ laws and policies with regard to preserving life.