Amnesty International’s response to Vatican Secretary of State

  • Reference: POL 30/019/2007
  • Published on 22/08/2007
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Yesterday the Vatican's Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, commented on Amnesty International's policy on sexual and reproductive rights - including on selected aspects of abortion - and said that the view of the Vatican is that abortion should not be available to rape victims.

Amnesty International's policy on sexual and reproductive rights does not promote abortion as a universal right and the organisation remains silent on the rights or wrongs of abortion. The policy recognises women's human rights to be free of fear, threat and coercion as they manage all consequences of rape and other grave human rights violations. Amnesty International stands by its policy, adopted in April this year, that aims to support the decriminalisation of abortion, to ensure women have access to health care when complications arise from abortion and to defend women's access to abortion - within reasonable gestational limits - when their health or life are in danger.

At its International Council Meeting held in Mexico last week, Amnesty International's leaders committed the organisation to strengthening its work on the prevention of unwanted pregnancies and other factors contributing to women's recourse to abortion and overwhelmingly affirmed the organisation's policy on selected aspects of abortion. More than 400 Amnesty International representatives from more than 75 countries - of many different nationalities, ethnicities, ages, religions and cultures - attended the meeting and affirmed Amnesty International's commitment to women's human rights.

Amnesty International first considered the question of whether there were human rights issues implicated in the question of abortion around two years ago as part of its work on the organisation's global campaign to Stop Violence Against Women. Amnesty International's position is consistent with international human rights and humanitarian law and was arrived at following extensive consultation with its membership. Amnesty International actively explored what the human rights issues related to abortion are and found that:

  • women are sentenced to death for obtaining an abortion after trials that fail to meet international human rights standards for fair trials in countries such as Nigeria;
  • women are arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned for having abortions when the evidence supported their defense of having had a spontaneous miscarriage; and
  • women with ectopic pregnancies (when the embryo attaches to the fallopian tube and has no chance of survival but when untreated can cause the fallopian tube to burst, threatening the woman's life and, if she survives, her fertility) were denied life saving medical intervention.

In addition, Amnesty International documented cases of sexual violence in armed conflict that were devastating to women and lead to their ostracisation. This trauma and exclusion was exacerbated when the sexual violence (typically in the form of gang rape) resulted in an unwanted pregnancy. Women and girls who were raped, including by family members, in non-conflict situations were also forced to carry the pregnancy to term.

Amnesty International also learned that, unlike in any other situation, medical service providers will often refuse to treat women suffering from complications related to abortion. There is no analogous treatment, i.e., the denial of medical services because the person in need of medical treatment is perceived or alleged to have committed a crime. People who overdose on drugs that are deemed illegal receive treatment, suspects in violent crimes who are shot or otherwise injured in the course of the crime receive medical treatment, and combatants in armed conflict who are hors de combat receive medical treatment. But women are denied this treatment, reflecting the exceptionalism around the issue of abortion.

Amnesty International finds it unacceptable for women to be imprisoned for seeking or obtaining an abortion, or for women to be denied access to abortion services even when the UN Committee on Human Rights has held that forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy to term that was a result of sexual violence in armed conflict is a form of torture; and in non-conflict situations cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Amnesty International finds the preventable death of 70,000 women per year - and the denial of medical services in a range of circumstances from ectopic pregnancies to complications from unsafe abortions - to be unacceptable. These are a violation of a woman's right to life, right to health, right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman degrading treatment and punishment and the right to non-discrimination.

In response to the position of the Vatican's Secretary of State, Amnesty International notes the right of the Vatican to hold its views on abortion and acknowledges human rights issues on which common ground does exist, including work against the death penalty, the release of prisoners of conscience and the abolition of torture. Amnesty International vigorously defends and respects the rights of individuals to exercise their right to freedom of expression and freedom of association. The matter of whether individuals, of any faith, agree with or oppose Amnesty International's policy on sexual and reproductive rights, which includes selected aspects on abortion, is for the individual to decide and should be respected.

Read more about Amnesty International's work on sexual and reproductive rights

Comments

Comments are submitted by members of the public and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Amnesty International Australia. If you find a comment objectionable please contact the web editor.

Sorry, but you are on the wrong track.
Does violence against the unborn child not matter?
Life does begin at conception - for if not at conception at what other point does the unborn child begin “living” for if it was not “living” we would not be having this discussion.
Does more violence undo the initial violence of rape, incest?
Fight for womens rights, fight for medical aid for those who are sick after having had an abortion, fight the injustice of laws but don’t expect my support to bring about more violence for surely the dismembering and killing of an unborn child must be one of the greatest and most cowardly forms of violence.

comment by:

J Webb
02/09/2007
12:09 AM

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I strongly believe that rape victims should have access to abortion services. Women have human rights and one of these rights is to control their own bodies and make decisions that affect them profoundly. The church should be acknowledging the sexual abuse committed against women and children by their own members and should be working on policies to address this issue. Sexual violence is not only a human rights violation but also a sin. The issues should be understood from the perspectives of women and not men. Men at the Vatican are completely unconnected to women’s lives and problems and therefore, should not be making decisions that convern women. The church has a long history of not listening to women’s voices and this is not something Jesus did.

comment by:

Adela
28/08/2007
02:04 PM

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This Response by Amnesty clearly explains how Amnesty is seeking to protect the human rights of women, including women who have been sexually assaulted and raped in war zones and other places of conflict. If a woman wants to terminate a pregnancy resulting from rape, should the woman be penalized? Amnesty is right to support women who are victims of rape, and the UN Committee on Human Rights also takes a similar stand. It may also be remembered that the Catholic Church itself has in the past been an organization that denied any basic human rights to “nonbelievers”. Today the Church claims to be an organization that cares for people, but for over a thousand years this Church did not respect the freedom of thought and the right to life of nonbelievers.

comment by:

Dayal Singh
23/08/2007
12:51 PM

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Sorry, I totally disagree with your new policy on abortion. I shall no longer contribute or in any way support you on the future.

comment by:

John Catling
22/08/2007
05:24 PM

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