The United Nations will celebrate “World Day of Peace” on Sept 21st.
“World Day of Peace” was originally established by the UN General Assembly in 1981 for the purpose of commemorating and strengthening of the ideals of peace. There are of course many kinds of violence present in our world which require our urgent attention, however the most insidious and unseen violence is that which is perpetrated against the innocent and vulnerable, that which is directed against unborn babies. Every baby counts, every life is a precious and unique gift, never to be repeated. Every baby, born or before birth, has an equal right to life with all other human beings, including his or her mother. Every pregnant woman knows that the baby she carries is a new human being. Medical science has also shown beyond any doubt that from the moment of fertilization each newly formed human embryo has a unique, separate and distinct identity.
Anti life ideologies have been adopted by many governments and powerful NGOs, ideologies which are hostile to the life of the child before birth. These ideologies must be confronted and shown to be detrimental, not only to the lives of the unborn, but to their mothers, to society, to the future population of nations and thereby their economic viability. Abortion is not, and can never be a human right.
European Life Network calls on Governments throughout the world to rethink this vitally important issue and beginning on world day of peace, to declare an amnesty for babies. The word amnesty comes from the Greek word amnestos, which means ‘the forgotten ones’. Do we need to ask who the forgotten ones in our society are, who are excluded when it comes to human rights? Babies once conceived and prior to birth are so often seen as expendable and truly become the forgotten ones, the amnestos, routinely condemned to death every day. There is no trial, no judge, no jury and no appeals procedure just a death sentence. What is their crime? Babies are innocent of crime but by just being there they are targeted for being present, being a second child, being a girl, being unwanted, or simply being inconvenient. Babies need strong advocacy to bring their plight to world attention. Even convicted murderers are given a fair trial, a right to appeal and then may even have their sentences commuted on grounds of clemency. The lives of many innocent babies are daily deemed to be worthless and undeserving of the most basic of rights.
“World Day of Peace” was originally established by the UN General Assembly in 1981 for the purpose of commemorating and strengthening of the ideals of peace. There are of course many kinds of violence present in our world which require our urgent attention, however the most insidious and unseen violence is that which is perpetrated against the innocent and vulnerable, that which is directed against unborn babies. Every baby counts, every life is a precious and unique gift, never to be repeated. Every baby, born or before birth, has an equal right to life with all other human beings, including his or her mother. Every pregnant woman knows that the baby she carries is a new human being. Medical science has also shown beyond any doubt that from the moment of fertilization each newly formed human embryo has a unique, separate and distinct identity.
Anti life ideologies have been adopted by many governments and powerful NGOs, ideologies which are hostile to the life of the child before birth. These ideologies must be confronted and shown to be detrimental, not only to the lives of the unborn, but to their mothers, to society, to the future population of nations and thereby their economic viability. Abortion is not, and can never be a human right.
European Life Network calls on Governments throughout the world to rethink this vitally important issue and beginning on world day of peace, to declare an amnesty for babies. The word amnesty comes from the Greek word amnestos, which means ‘the forgotten ones’. Do we need to ask who the forgotten ones in our society are, who are excluded when it comes to human rights? Babies once conceived and prior to birth are so often seen as expendable and truly become the forgotten ones, the amnestos, routinely condemned to death every day. There is no trial, no judge, no jury and no appeals procedure just a death sentence. What is their crime? Babies are innocent of crime but by just being there they are targeted for being present, being a second child, being a girl, being unwanted, or simply being inconvenient. Babies need strong advocacy to bring their plight to world attention. Even convicted murderers are given a fair trial, a right to appeal and then may even have their sentences commuted on grounds of clemency. The lives of many innocent babies are daily deemed to be worthless and undeserving of the most basic of rights.
Mother Theresa in her acceptance speech when she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace told the assembly
But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. […] And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love
This theme was also referred to by Pope John Paul 11 on many occasions throughout his pontificate. In his statement for World Day for Peace in 2001 Pope John Paul II pointed out that there can be no real peace without respect for the most vulnerable in our society.
An authentic dialogue between cultures cannot fail to nourish, in addition to sentiments of mutual respect, a lively sense of the value of life itself. Human life cannot be seen as an object to do with as we please, but as the most sacred and inviolable earthly reality. There can be no peace when this most basic good is not protected. It is not possible to invoke peace and despise life.[...] I am speaking of a tragic spiral of death which includes murder, suicide, abortion, euthanasia,[...] To this list we must add irresponsible practices of genetic engineering, such as the cloning and use of human embryos for research, which are justified by an illegitimate appeal to freedom, to cultural progress, to the advancement of mankind. When the weakest and most vulnerable members of society are subjected to such atrocities, the very idea of the human family, built on the value of the person, on trust, respect and mutual support, is dangerously eroded. A civilization based on love and peace must oppose these experiments, which are unworthy of man.
