UN General Assembly Told That All Nations Must Legalize Abortion

Late last month, Arand Grover, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, presented a report to the UN General Assembly that explicitly calls for every nation to legalize abortion as a “health” issue. According to Grover, laws which prohibit abortion violate the right to health protected “by international human rights law.”

Reaction was immediate. Grover’s report was praised by the European Union countries, Norway, South Africa and the United States. Opposing the recommendation were Chile, Swaziland, Egypt, Honduras and The Holy See. The Egyptian representative criticized Grover’s “systematic attempts to reinterpret internationally agreed conventions.” The Holy See said, regarding abortion as a violation of the right to health, that “the very opposite is the case: abortion is itself a violation of the right to health both of the unborn child and of the mother.” The delegate from Chile stated the importance of recognizing the right to life of all human beings, including the unborn.

It is discouraging that the United States concurred with Grover’s report. Not surprising, however, given the Obama administration’s pursuit of abortion in every corner of the country and the world.

Barbara Lyons