Scottish Cardinal O'Brien Ends Amnesty International Membership Over New Abortion Policy

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice;  Women's Health / Gynecology;  Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 31 Aug 2007 - 12:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien, head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, on Tuesday announced he will end his membership with Amnesty International because of the group's new policy that supports a woman's right to have an abortion under certain circumstances, AFP/Yahoo! News reports (AFP/Yahoo! News, 8/28). The organization at the end of its biennial meeting in Mexico City said it would work to "support the decriminalization of abortion to ensure women have access to health care when complications arise from abortion and to defend women's access to abortion ... when their health or human rights are in danger." The new policy is automatically binding for Amnesty's members in each member country, including where abortion is illegal.

According to the policy, safe abortions should be available to women in cases of rape or incest, or when the health or life of a pregnant woman is at risk. Amnesty Senior Policy and Campaigns Director Widney Brown has said the policy is part of the group's global campaign to stop violence against women. The policy does not acknowledge abortion as a "fundamental right" for women, and the organization supports the right of states to put "reasonable limitations" on abortion providers and to prosecute those who risk women's lives by performing unsafe abortions, according to Brown.

Catholic Leaders' Reaction
Critics have said that Amnesty has abandoned its principles by changing its previously neutral position on abortion. Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's Justice and Peace Department, in June called on Roman Catholics and Catholic organizations to withhold contributions to Amnesty because of the policy. Michael Evans, Roman Catholic bishop of East Anglia in England, earlier this month ended his Amnesty membership after the group affirmed its support for the new policy (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/21). O'Brien in a letter to John Watson, director of Amnesty in Scotland, said the new policy "forced" him to reconsider his "membership of this noble organization" (AFP/Yahoo! News, 8/28).

According to London's Times, many of Amnesty's "strongest backers" have been Catholics, and some people are concerned that the resignations of O'Brien and Evans signal that others will rethink their support for the group. "Sadly now, Amnesty International seems to be placing itself at the forefront of a campaign for a universal 'right' to abortion," O'Brien, who joined Amnesty as a student more than 40 years ago, wrote. He added, "For me it is a matter of conscience. ... Others must follow their own consciences" (Gledhill, Times, 8/28).

Watson said, "Our position on the matter of abortion has been informed by our work in, for example, Darfur -- where rape is used systematically as a weapon of war." He added, "We encourage the Catholic Church not to turn away from the suffering that women face because of sexual violence and urge the Catholic leadership to advocate tolerance and respect for freedom of expression for all human rights defenders" (AFP/Yahoo! News, 8/28).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.