Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 26, 2006
Groups
plan attack on Amnesty proposal
By BRIAN MURPHY, AP RELIGION WRITER
ATHENS, Greece -- Famed for its human rights
work, Amnesty International is under siege
from religious groups outraged by a proposal
that would expand Amnesty's mandate to
include supporting access to abortion
in cases such as sexual violence.
A small but growing band of anti-abortion
campaigners and Roman Catholic clerics
- including some who have backed Amnesty's
activities in the past - claim the Nobel
Prize-winning group is drifting away from
its principles of unbiased advocacy.
They have threatened to pull away members
and donations, and have called for a flood
of protest letters to Amnesty offices
- the same strategy Amnesty uses to pressure
for the release of political prisoners
and others.
Amnesty officials note that any decision
is still more than a year away at the
earliest, and defend their right to debate
abortion and birth control within the
context of women's rights.
Top Amnesty officials were unavailable for
interviews, but the group released a statement
from its London headquarters saying the
group "does not make policy according
to the ebbs and flows of external pressure."
It's unclear how deeply the anti-abortion
factions could punish Amnesty. But religious
groups have long been a pillar of the
organization, which was founded in 1961
by a Catholic lawyer in Britain and now
has more than 1.8 million members and
many other supporters around the world.
Its work to free people held by repressive
regimes led to Amnesty winning the 1977
Nobel Peace Prize.
"This is completely inconsistent with
what Amnesty has been about," said
John-Henry Westen, a board member of the
Campaign Life Coalition, a Toronto-based
group representing about 110,000 families.
"We consider this an attack on the
rights of the unborn."
Westen said some members - including several
"significant" financial contributors
to Amnesty - already have stopped supporting
the group.
"This is forcing people to make a choice,"
he said.
Amnesty's various regional offices are being
asked to study whether to end the group's
official "neutral" stance on
abortion. In its place, the group could
declare access to abortion a human right
in specific cases including rape and life-threatening
pregnancy complications. The proposals
- growing out of Amnesty's campaign to
stop violence against women - also include
whether to support legal access to contraception.
Few places, including the United States,
appear ready for an up or down vote on
the matter. Instead, the discussions so
far have been general, noncommittal and
passionate. In New Zealand, Amnesty's
local director, Ced Simpson, said there
have been "strongly held views on
both sides of the debate."
A final decision could come at Amnesty's
next international gathering - in Mexico
in August 2007. But the Amnesty statement
said "much depends on the outcomes"
of the current debates in various countries.
If there's agreement that the abortion
rights proposal has support, it could
either be adopted by consensus or put
to a formal vote. Otherwise, it could
be dropped or sent back for more discussions.
In the meantime, opponents are trying to
ignite a global movement that would draw
in conservative Muslims and evangelical
churches. Their long-range worry is that
Amnesty's move could encourage other rights
and aid agencies to take similar views
on abortion and birth control. Last year,
a statement from Medecines Sans Frontieres,
or Doctors Without Borders, said its field
workers can consider all measures, including
abortion, when treating victims of sexual
violence.
"We are deeply disappointed by the
path taken by Amnesty. For those of us
who champion real human rights, these
trends makes us a bit queasy," said
Austin Ruse, the Washington-based president
of the Catholic Family and Human Rights
Institute, a nonprofit research group
that has called its 100,000 members to
mobilize against the proposal.
In Britain, one of the largest anti-abortion
groups, the Society for the Protection
of the Unborn Child, has urged its members
to turn their backs on Amnesty if the
proposal is passed.
"You can't just support a group because
they do some good things," said Janet
Thomas, a society member in Wales. "You
have to weigh your decision against the
bad things they do."
Pope Benedict XVI has not spoken on the
issue. But some high-ranking clerics have
denounced the proposal, including Cardinal
Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's
office for peace and justice.
An open letter by Bishop Michael Evans of
East Anglia, England - a 30-year member
of Amnesty - said it would be "very
difficult for Catholics and many others"
to continue supporting Amnesty if the
proposal is passed. In Canada, Bishop
Frederick Henry of Calgary called the
proposal "a gross betrayal"
of Amnesty's mission and policies, which
including opposition to the death penalty.
Amnesty says the discussions under way include
broader issues such as the health risks
of illegal abortions and forced marriages
of young girls.
Amnesty's policy positions, the group said
in its statement, "are rooted in
human rights values, principles and standards
and not in public and popular opinion."
