Vatican warns Amnesty on abortion

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 7:44 AM on June 23, 2006.

Amnesty International and the Vatican are gearing up for a fight over abortion.

Using a curious phrase, Cardinal Renato Martino, "who heads the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Peace and Justice and the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People," warned that by "doing this, they cut off their hands." (Gah!)

The "this" is Amnesty dropping its neutral stance on abortion and pushing for it as a human right. They're seeking to decriminalize it in countries that already have repressive laws, like El Salvador and it's Forensic Vagina Specialists.

Martino went on to say that "if they do, they are disqualified as defenders of human rights."

Wow, if they disagree on this issue they're "disqualified"? How does one get "disqualified"? That's a bit hysterical, but then, in the eyes of the Vatican, abortion is murder. But then again, they refuse to sanction birth control, which is an unconscionable and ultimately cruel position given food shortages in a changing world.

But Amnesty, "founded by Catholic lawyer Peter Benenson in 1961" doesn't believe that the Vatican has a red phone to G-d.

Back in 2000 Amnesty joined other groups in pushing for legalized abortion in the UN's declaration on women's rights, opposed by the Vatican. At the time, "Amnesty... accused the Vatican of entering into an unholy alliance with a number of Muslim and developing countries to stop abortion from being enshrined in international law."

Hint to the Vatican: If you want to have a say in what happens to women's bodies, a good start would be to NOT pretend that men are better than women by refusing to allow them to join the ordained hierarchy. Just a thought.

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Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet.