Pro-abortion lobby routed
at Council of Europe in debate on conscientious objection
Part Three of Four
Editor's note. The following
is from the blog of John Smeaton, executive director of SPUC--the
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.
An attack on the right of conscientious objection to abortion
was defeated Tuesday evening in the Council of Europe.
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Ronan Mullen |
The Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted on a report, the original
text of which recommended a crack-down on medical personnel who
refuse to be complicit in the provision of abortion and other
unethical procedures.
Ronan Mullen, the Irish
senator, and Luca Volonte of Italy, led the assembly in passing
amendments which totally reversed the report, from a
pro-abortion attack on conscientious objection to a defence of
conscientious objection. Christine McCafferty, the report's
British author and her fellow pro-abortion assembly-members were
therefore forced to vote against their own report.
Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's
communications manager, told the media earlier this evening
[Tuesday]
"This evening witnessed an
incredible victory for the right of staff in medical
institutions to refuse to be complicit in the killing of unborn
children and other unethical practices.
"SPUC is immensely
grateful to the large number of our supporters who lobbied the
assembly in recent months, as well as to Senator Mullen, Mr
Volonte and the assembly-members who supported them."
In the debate Senator
Mullen pointed out that:
the United Nations'
Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises the rights of
unborn children;
there is no human right to abortion, whereas conscientious
objection is a basic principle of human rights;
the report's original text was in reality a furtherance of
pro-abortion agenda.
Part Four
Part One
Part Two |