The New York based advocacy group Human Rights Watch released a document on 28th January entitled 'A State of Isolation: Access to Abortion for Women in Ireland'.
Among other things, it claims that Ireland is in breach of its international human rights obligations for not allowing legalised abortion in this country.
Human Rights Watch cannot credibly claim to be a human rights organisation while at the same time denying the rights of unborn children throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy. Any authentic vision of human rights has to include the right to life. Otherwise it is meaningless.
Human Rights Watch may talk a lot about the issue but it does not have a monopoly on concern for women's health. Ireland without abortion is a recognised world leader in providing medical care for women during pregnancy. Human Rights Watch and likeminded abortion advocacy groups need to reflect on this reality instead of creating unnecessary fears about women's health simply to have abortion imposed on Ireland.
Human Rights Watch is also in complete denial regarding the latest peer reviewed studies showing the extremely damaging psychological effects of abortion on women. Women deserve better from an organisation claiming to serve its best interests.
It is ridiculous to claim that Ireland is in breach of its international human rights obligations because it respects the right to life of unborn children. It is embarrassingly obvious from today's publication that Human Rights Watch has little or no knowledge of the situation in Ireland. As an abortion advocacy group, it may see a political value in using over the top terms to describe Ireland's abortion laws but this approach does nothing to serve the cause of informed and reasoned debate.
Seeking to protect both mother and baby during pregnancy is not a violation of any human right. In fact it is the complete opposite. Abortion is legal up to birth in some countries. Human Rights Watch supports these barbaric laws. As a group, it even opposes laws prohibiting sex-selection abortions, specifically targeting female unborn children. This alone completely undermines its claim to be a defender of women's rights.
Rather than discriminating against certain categories of human beings, we need to work together to build a more welcoming society where the value and dignity of every human life, born and unborn, is respected
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I think its awful that some journalists especially the Examiner newspaper gave this document so much credibility! They are basically an abortion advocacy group and should have been described as such.
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