The way to San Jose
People around the world must be told there is no international right to abortion, according to the creators of the San Jose Articles.
The San Jose Articles, formed in March 2011 and launched in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 26 October, by Anna Záborská MEP and Alojz Peterle MEP, aim to counter the false belief, perpetuated by influential people, that the UN holds abortion to be a human right.
The articles, prepared by a group of 31 experts in international law, public health, science, medicine and government, demonstrate that the unborn child is protected in human rights instruments, and governments should safeguard the unborn child by using international law.
At a plenary session of the European Parliament, the MEPs, who are co-signatories of the articles, told press and delegates that the San Jose Articles were created to help governments and civil society promote fundamental rights, through a proper understanding of how the rights of the unborn child are protected in international law.
The articles should be used to counter false assertions, such as the erroneous notion that human life doesn’t start at conception or that abortion is a fundamental right.
There are nine articles in total, which include statements such as: ‘A new human life begins at conception’; ‘From conception, each unborn child is by nature a human being’; ‘All human beings are entitled to recognition of their inherent dignity and to protection of their inalienable human rights’; and ‘There exists no right to abortion under international law’.
Other co-signatories include: Lord Nicholas Windsor, member of the British royal family; Lord David Alton, member of the House of Lords; former French cabinet minister Christine Boutin; Tom Coburn MD, member of the US Senate; and Gregor Puppinck, executive director of the European Centre for Law and Justice.
