Text 2139, 56 rader
Skriven 2007-02-04 21:15:14 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service - Press Release
===================================================
Hello All!
                This Area is READ ONLY.  Do not post to this area.
                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                               VIS-Press releases

HOLY SEE WILL NOT SIGN U.N. CONVENTION ON DISABLED PEOPLE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 1, 2007 (VIS) - Made public today was a talk delivered by
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See permanent observer to the United
Nations in New York, concerning a Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, approved by the U.N. General Assembly on December 13, 2006 and
due to be signed by member States on March 30.

In a note accompanying the talk, the archbishop recalls that, "since the
beginning of work in July 2002, the Holy See has participated actively in the
preparation of the document, collaborating in the insertion of explicit
references to respect for the right to life and the recognition of the role of
the family in the lives of disabled people. Nonetheless, in the final stage of
the work, unacceptable references to 'reproductive health' have been introduced
into articles 23 and 25 and, for that reason, the Holy See has decided not to
adhere to the new convention."

In his English-language talk, Archbishop Migliore highlighted how "the Holy See
has consistently called for disabled individuals to be completely and
compassionately integrated into society, convinced that they possess full and
inalienable human rights."

With reference to article 23 of the convention, he indicated that his
delegation "interprets all the terms and phrases regarding family planning
services, regulation of fertility and marriage in article 23, as well as the
word 'gender,' as it did in its reservations and statements of interpretation
at the Cairo and Beijing International Conferences," held respectively 1994 and
1995.

"Finally, and most importantly, regarding article 25 on health, and
specifically the reference to sexual and reproductive health, the Holy See
understands access to reproductive health as being a holistic concept that does
not consider abortion or access to abortion as a dimension of those terms. ...
We opposed the inclusion of such a phrase in this article, because in some
countries reproductive health services include abortion, thus denying the
inherent right to life of every human being, also affirmed by article 10 of the
Convention. It is surely tragic that ... the same Convention created to protect
persons with disabilities from all discrimination in the exercise of their
rights, may be used to deny the very basic right to life of disabled unborn
persons.

"For this reason," he concluded, "and despite the many helpful articles this
convention contains, the Holy See is unable to sign it."
DELSS/DISABLED PEOPLE/UN:MIGLIOREVIS 070201 (410)

SUMMARY

--- MPost/386 v1.21
 * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)