Shamnesty: Pro-Lifers Launch Anti-Amnesty International Campaign

Amnesty International is endangering the basic human rights of unborn children by supporting abortion in Ireland, pro-life campaigners have said.

On the 48th anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act that legalised the procedure in the UK, two pro-life charities have launched a new campaign criticising Amnesty’s campaign to legalise it in Ireland too.

The Amnesty Travesty campaign, set up by the charities LIFE and Right To Life, says that nearly 8.5 million babies have been killed by abortion in Great Britain since 1967, with an average 550 abortions each day.

They say that this is “clearly not an act for Ireland to follow” and have launched a petition condemning Amnesty’s position and calling on them to rethink the issue. It reads:

Your organisation says that it works to protect men, women and children wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied, yet:

• In the UK every year, the lives of over 190,000 unborn children are ended in the womb. You do nothing to help protect them.
• In the UK every year, over 3000 babies are terminated in the womb because they are disabled. You do nothing to stop this injustice.
• In the UK every year, 90% of Down’s Syndrome babies identified in the womb are aborted. You do nothing to defend their right to life.
• In the UK babies are terminated in the womb just because they are girls. You do nothing to end this gender discrimination.

The human rights group was criticised last week after releasing a pro-abortion video that was described by critics as “disingenuous” and “anti-Catholic”. The video, which makes heavy use of religious imagery, features the voice of actor Liam Neeson who refers to a “cruel ghost” that “haunts” Ireland.

Lord Alton of Liverpool, who previously campaigned with the Amnesty while a student, condemned their campaign, saying: “Their mission statement – crafted by Peter Benenson – their founder and a Catholic – was to speak up for the voiceless and to seek protection for those who are being persecuted, tortured, or whose lives are at risk because of unjust laws and totalitarian regimes.

“But Amnesty wasn’t set up to take away the protection of the right to life of an unborn child.”

A spokesman for Amnesty Travesty said: “Amnesty International, which was born out of the conviction that the human rights of the oppressed and vulnerable should be vocally supported by those who believed in the dignity of all human beings, now perversely campaigns for a human right to end human lives. Specifically the most vulnerable of all: unborn children.

“Where nations have chosen to resist abortion, Amnesty is spending significant sums of charity funds to pressure them to ensure the platform exists for the termination of babies in the womb.

“It is ironic that an organisation which in 1977 received the Nobel Peace Prize for its lifesaving work would today be championing ending the very lives that most need the humane advocacy it is meant to provide.”

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