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Recalling Cairo Meeting, Holy See Stresses Rights of Unborn Babies : 2nd Nov 09
“Human Persons Are the World’s Greatest Resource”, insisted Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the United Nations, in an address on population and development before the 64th session of the UN General Assembly.
“As we call to mind the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)”, he said, “we recognise the many challenges facing the international community to achieve the goal of greater sustained economic and social development.
When States came together in Cairo in 1994, many of them were under the impression that a population explosion was going to occur and hamper the ability to achieve adequate global economic development. Now, fifteen years later, we see that this perception was unfounded. Too often in addressing the role of the ICPD on maternal health, attempts are made to promote a notion of sexual and reproductive health which is detrimental to unborn human life and the integral needs of women and men within society.
Efforts to address maternal mortality, obstetric fistula, child mortality, prenatal and antenatal care, sexually transmitted diseases and other health matters are hampered by sanitary policies which fail to take into account the right to life of the unborn child and promote birth control as a development policy and disguised health service.
Suggesting that reproductive health includes a right to abortion explicitly violates the language of the ICPD, defies moral and legal standards within local communities and divides efforts to address the real needs of mothers and children. Renewing our effort to respond to the integral health and social needs of the community entails taking into account the social, cultural and spiritual needs of all and adhering to the international standard set in the ICPD, which calls for national laws to be fully respected.
For its part, the Catholic Church remains committed to providing access to health care for everyone. Through over 5,000 hospitals, 18,000 health clinics, and 15,000 homes for the elderly and disabled, as well as other health care programs throughout the world, Catholic-based institutions are committed to providing the right to quality and effective and morally responsible health care for all”. Zenit. October 14.
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