Our Work at the United Nations

Priests for Life is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. We participate in meetings at the United Nations and collaborate with the Holy See and numerous pro-family NGOs to foster international policies protecting the dignity of human life at all stages.

March 2019

Working to Protect Unborn Baby Girls from Sex Selection Abortion

The United Nations (UN) Session of the Commission for the Status of Women (CSW63) is in its second week (March 11-22) of meetings. This year’s conference of over ten thousand is seeing its largest attendance of delegates and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) representatives ever and Priests for Life is here defending the rights of the unborn and their mothers. The theme for this year’s conference is “Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls”. In addition to Commission scheduled events, there are over a hundred NGO Side and Parallel Events taking place throughout the two-week conference.

Bob Lalonde, PFL UN Main Representative, is in NYC and Marie Smith, Director of PNCI and PFL UN Representative prepared our formal statement which was officially published by the UN in English, French and Spanish. Our statement focuses on the elimination of prenatal sex selection and states that “social protection systems for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are needed throughout the life cycle if women’s lives are to be valued and protected. Imbalanced sex ratios at birth demonstrate the lack of social protection for girls in the prenatal stage of life and are a sign of lethal male preference that not only results in gender inequality but gives rise to increased violence against women and girls throughout their lives.”

This belief was echoed by Ambassador Cherith Norman Chalet, U.S. Representative for UN Management and Reform, U.S. Mission to the United Nations, who also said “Let’s be clear – we are not about gender jargon. Today, here at the Commission on the Status of Women, we are about women. Women and girls. The life of all women and girls. The United States is also committed to protecting the precious gift of life, including the protection of baby girls who would have been aborted, merely because they are female.”

Prior to the CSW session, PFL and PNCI were joined in a special communication to CSW calling attention to the issue “Prenatal Sex Selection Results in Increased Violence Against Girls and Women” by Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) Education Fund, and International Solidarity and Human Rights Institute (ISHRI). The communication highlighted data and research which shows that failure to protect girls in the prenatal stage of life results in skewed birth ratios and leads to increased violence, kidnappings, rapes, sex trafficking and prostitution, bride-selling, and child marriage as countries struggle with unprecedented demographic challenges precipitated by significant numbers of missing women and girls.

The communication included a warning from demographers that that imbalanced sex ratios will continue with dire consequences and the worldwide number of missing women from 2010-2050 will rise for two more decades before peaking at 150 million in 2035. The anticipated imbalance will be exacerbated by access to prenatal sex determination technology and use of abortion-inducing drugs.

The failure of CSW to address sex selection abortion is contrary to the Platform of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing which not only recognized that “discrimination and violence against girls begin at the earliest stages of life and continue unabated throughout their lives” but called on governments to “eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl child”, including prenatal sex selection and female infanticide which were labeled as “harmful and unethical practices”.

PFL is active at the UN working to protect the lives of all children in the womb and during CSW is raising its voice in defense of unborn baby girls who are too frequently identified in the womb and lose their lives because they are not baby boys.

See photos

February 2019

The United Nations (UN) is holding its 57th Session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD57) where thousands of delegates and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) representatives have gathered in NY from around the world for a two-week meeting (February 11 – 21) and Priests for Life is there defending the rights of the unborn and their mothers. The theme for this year’s conference is “Addressing inequalities and challenges to social inclusion through fiscal, wage and social protection policies”. In addition to Commission scheduled events there are over fifty NGO Side Events taking place throughout the conference.

Bob Lalonde, PFL Main Representative to the UN, is participating in the Session and Marie Smith, Director of PNCI and a PFL Representative to the UN, prepared our formal submission which was accepted by the UN and published in English, French and Spanish. Our statement emphasizes “the groups most in need of social protection span the life cycle, beginning with the child, the disabled and the elderly.” It goes on to say “The need for social protection is especially critical for the preborn baby girl who is identified as female and whose life is lost through sex selection abortion.” Likewise, “The need for social protection is also especially critical for the unborn child who is diagnosed with a disability and whose life is devalued based on subjective views.” In addition, “Elderly women are especially vulnerable to extreme poverty and in need of special social protection to ensure their safety and well-being. Individuals suffering from disability and those advanced in age are in need of social protection from abuse and from attempts at euthanasia or assisted suicide to induce death.”

Our submission concludes by restating “true equality and social inclusion requires social protection systems to ensure that no human being, from conception to natural death, is denied their right to life. This includes baby girls in the womb who are marked for elimination because they are female and unborn children identified as having impairment, endangered from a discrimination that seeks their death through abortion. Disabled individuals, regardless of age, and the elderly suffering from illness or disease are also in need of social protection. Priests for Life believes that life, in its most fragile state, is no less sacred than when it is in its healthiest and it is during life’s most fragile state that social protection systems are needed most.”

Our full statement can be found in English and in Français | Español.

See pictures

December 2018

Priests for Life was at the United Nations for meetings and pleased to participate in the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the UN’s December 4 event marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Speakers included Msgr. Tomasz Grysa of the Holy See, Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon, Michael Farris, ADF International, Dr Robert George, Princeton University and Dr. Palo Carozza, University of Notre Dame and over 150 attendees. The event is one of several taking place to mark the important anniversary which enshrined agreed upon human rights, including the Right to Life. Click here for the statement from the Holy See.

April 2018

Priests for Life Attending 51st Commission on Population and Development (CPD)

Priests for Life (PFL) is working to protect unborn children from abortion at the 51st session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) at the United Nations as it meets to consider the theme “Sustainable cities, human mobility and international migration”. Bob Lalonde, PFL International Director and Main PFL Representative to the UN, is attending the meeting and Marie Smith, Director of PNCI and a PFL Representative to the UN, prepared the PFL submission statement, one of only 20 NGO statements posted on the official website.

In its statement, PFL expresses its deep concern that the provision of health care to reduce newborn, child and maternal mortality during migration and in cities should be life-affirming and not include access to abortion and expresses its opposition to any attempt to include abortion in maternal or reproductive health programs.

PFL explains its pro-life position, “Access to life-affirming health care is needed by all, especially the most vulnerable — pregnant women, children, the elderly and the disabled. Initiatives that seek the elimination of individuals who may be considered “inconvenient” or a “burden” or who require extra care must always be opposed.

The challenges that PFL and other pro-life organizations face at the UN in protecting the unborn can best be understood by the six pro-abortion NGO statements out of the 20 NGO statements posted online which include the following:

International Planned Parenthood called for a “comprehensive package of sexual and reproductive health services… as well as safe abortion services” for migrants”.

Marie Stopes International stated, “Universal access to family planning and safe abortion services in urban areas is a necessary step in the sustainable development process.”

The Federation for Women and Family Planning stated its extreme pro-abortion position, “Globally… limited access to safe and legal abortion severely limits and violates migrant women ’s human rights, specifically their sexual and reproductive health and rights.”

The Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights recommended that CPD 51 call for expansion of “the provision of all forms of contraception, safe and legal abortion and post abortion care within cities across the globe.”

PFL and allies also have to face the push for abortion at the UN from pro-abortion countries. For example, Norway in its official CPD statement, expresses an anti-religion view and declares that the “right of all girls and women to make decisions about their own sexuality and body is crucial” and “We can never accept the use of religion or so-called traditional values as an excuse to deprive women of their rights”.

The entire PFL statement, E/CN.9/2018/NGO/17, can be read in English, French, or Spanish.

March 27, 2018

Standing up for the rights of girls, women, mothers and the unborn at the United Nations!

 Archbishop Auza’s prolife stance at the UN Commission on the Status of Women dovetailed with Priests for Life’s statement and reminded member states and civil society about the contradictions and evils of sex selection and the elimination of unborn children with Down’s Syndrome. Regarding sex selection, the Papal Representative said “The international community says that it wants to leave no one behind and to defend the rights and equality of women and girls, for example, but then refuses to do anything when data show that the youngest girls are being systematically discriminated against in the womb, as in the case of sex selective abortion.” And on Down’s Syndrome he said that “Despite the commitments made in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights, including that of the right to life, by all persons with disabilities, so many members of the international community stand on the sidelines as the vast majority of those diagnosed with Trisomy-21 have their lives ended before they’re even born.” To read Archbishop Auza’s full remarks, click here. Likewise on the matter of reproductive health, the Nuncio stated “That’s what happens when phrases like “reproductive health,” “sexual and reproductive health care services” and “sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights” are used to push for the practices of abortion and all forms of contraception, either as an exercise of “rights” or as means to population control or both. The very terms “reproductive” and “reproduction” themselves obscure the transcendent dimension of human “procreation,” a term that reflects the wonder of the participation of man and woman in the continued work of creation, and the reality that the full dignity of men and women is expressed when they relate to each other with mutual respect and commitment in all aspects of life, including procreation. Moreover, such reductive terms similarly betray a narrow and materialistic concept of health, one that in focusing on specific bodily systems fails to embrace the woman or the man in the entirety of who she or he is.” To read Archbishop Auza’s full remarks, click here.

March 2018

Priests for Life Attending 62nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

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The 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is taking place at the United Nations in New York from March 12-23 and Priests for Life is there. Bob Lalonde, PFL International Director, is attending the meeting and side events convened to address the theme “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”.

In its written submission statement by Marie Smith, PNCI Director, PFL challenges CSW to address equality and empowerment of women and girls living in rural settings for all phases of life beginning at conception. PFL states: “A rural woman can face violence and discrimination throughout her life as she is treated unequally, denied access to nutritious food and education and in the case of sex selection abortion loses her life through deadly sex discrimination.”

PFL reminds CSW that the foundational document for CSW, the Beijing Platform of Action (PoA), recognized that son preference in a number of countries leads to the practice of prenatal sex selection and expressed concern that son preference “is curtailing the access of girl children to food, education and health care and even life itself.” Most critically, the PoA stated: “Discrimination against women begins at the earliest stages of life and must therefore be addressed from then onwards.”

PFL recalls that the PoA identified sex selection abortion as an act of violence and stated, “Acts of violence against women also include forced sterilization and forced abortion, coercive/forced use of contraceptives, female infanticide and prenatal sex selection.”

The PFL statement advises CSW that anti-girl discrimination exists from the earliest stages of a girl’s life and grossly undermines rural women’s equality and empowerment. PFL calls to mind the recommendation to governments in the PoA “to enact and enforce legislation protecting girls from all forms of violence, including female infanticide and prenatal sex selection”.

PFL exhorts CSW that “failure to protect girls in law from prenatal sex selection begins the cycle of discrimination and violence”. PFL highlights the PoA’s call for governments to: “Eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of son preference, which result in harmful and unethical practices such as prenatal sex selection and female infanticide; this is often compounded by the increasing use of technologies to determine foetal sex, resulting in abortion of female fetuses”.

PFL concludes that “continued progress around the world is needed to empower all women, especially rural women, in the role of mother with the maternal health care they need during pregnancy and childbirth to ensure that they and their children survive and thrive…Recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of rural women throughout the life cycle will help achieve gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. Cultural practices which de-value the life of the girl-child must end and the dignity of a rural woman affirmed during all stages of life, from conception to natural death.”

The complete PFL statement can be found on the website of the Commission on the Status of Women in English, Spanish, and French. And also found in English here.

January 2018

Priests for Life Attending 56th Session of the Commission for Social Development

Priests for Life (PFL) is participating in the UN meeting of the Commission on Social Development (CoSD) in New York organized with the theme “strategies for eradicating poverty to achieve sustainable development for all”. Bob Lalonde, PFL International Director, is attending the meeting and side events, including those sponsored by the Holy See.

In its written statement, PFL cautions the CoSD that no member of the human family should be “stripped of human dignity and denied their most basic right — the right to life — through policies that allow individuals to be marginalized and treated as a problem and their extinction considered an acceptable strategy for poverty eradication. The dignity of life needs to be acknowledged and protected throughout the life cycle, from conception to natural death, especially when the vulnerable human being is disabled, elderly or residing in the womb.”

PFL reminds the CoSD of the words of Pope Francis who in his address the UN General Assembly called for respect of all lives: “The common home of all men and women must continue to rise on the foundations of a right understanding of universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, the infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic.”

In the conclusion, PFL expresses its agreement with Pope Francis stating, “Priests for Life concurs that our common home rises on the foundations that understand universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life. We believe that strategies for the eradication of poverty to achieve sustainable development ought to affirm the well-being, dignity and worth of all —every human being without exception —leading to a post 2030 world in which “no one was left behind”.

PFL’s complete statement—E/CN.5/2018/NGO/59—can be found on the Commission’s website in English | Français | Español

The statement is also posted here.

October 2017

Priests for Life vigorously reaffirms in a new statement to the UN’s Human Rights Committee (HRC) that the “Right to life” for every human being cannot exclude the unborn or consider their inherent right to life “an exception” as the Draft General Comment No. 36 Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) attempts to do. HRC has been working on new language for the Right to Life section since July 2015 and recently invited Member States, UN agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), research institutions, and academics to submit comments. In our statement we point out, for example, that whereas Article 6 “recognizes and protects the right to life of all human beings” and asserts that it “is most precious for its own sake as a right that inheres in every human being…”, paragraph 9 in the General Comment (GC) presents a diametrically opposed view of the inclusive right to life presented in the preceding sections as it advocates for the taking of a life in abortion, cloaked in an euphemistic term that ignores the humanity and inherent right to life of the preborn child—“regulate terminations of pregnancy”. The only acknowledgement of the humanity of the child is in the proposal for abortion during circumstances when “the foetus suffers from fatal impairment” which advances death as a “solution” in a comment on “the right to life”. There is no consideration in the GC of the fact that a preborn child can feel pain beginning at 20 weeks gestation—perhaps earlier— and that the violence of abortion is “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment” as proscribed by article 7 of the ICCPR (prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment).

Abortion by its very nature is in conflict with the right to life. The lives of children living but not yet born are deserving of protection as members of the human family and holders of an independent right to life by virtue of their human status. By advancing abortion while denying preborn children a right to life, the HRC fails in its duty to protect the rights of all human beings. This failure renders an unborn child’s right to life contingent on whether or not she is “wanted” by another, considered “an inconvenience” or “a threat”, or deemed “not perfect” enough. Selective exclusion of the “right to life” for any member of the human family impacts the right to life of all by bestowing an arbitrary status to an inalienable right. It is our collective duty to ensure that no one is left out and that all are assured of their right to life. This includes unborn children who, as the youngest and most vulnerable members of the human family, represent the most at risk group in the world today. The GC is in conflict as it advances abortion—a denial of the right to life based on arbitrary measures— while stating that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life and that the right shall be protected by law”.

Priests for Life works around the world to advance respect for the dignity of life and to ensure its protection at every stage of development from conception to natural death and calls upon the UN Human Rights Committee to adhere to its own mandate and do the same.

Our complete statement can be read here.

April 2017

Priests for Life Attending 50th Commission on Population and Development

The Commission on Population and Development (CPD) is considering the topic “Changing Population Age Structures and Sustainable Development” during its 50th session currently underway at United Nations. Priests for Life is present at the CPD meeting represented by Bob Lalonde, PFL’s International Director, who is working with the UN pro-life coalition to ensure that older individuals are treated with dignity in all aspects of their lives and that the innate right to life is respected from conception until natural death despite the growing and alarming pressure for euthanasia and assisted suicide and relentless promotion of access to abortion.

In its written submission, composed by PFL representative to the United Nations, Marie Smith, Director of PNCI, Priests for Life reminds CPD that all human beings are deserving of human dignity and have an inherent right to life, regardless of age, condition of dependency or disability, or stage of development. That as the number of the “oldest-old” increases, along with the cost of care, attempts to hasten death by denial of medical treatment, withdrawal of nutrition and hydration, or direct acts of euthanasia must be opposed.

PFL stresses that the right to life is the first human right, existing from the moment of conception to natural death, for all human beings, with no exceptions based on arbitrary determinations of utility and wantedness, indifference or misguided mercy.

PFL brings to CPD’s attention the fact that a majority of Member States protects unborn children and their mothers from the violence of abortion and restricts or limits access to abortion and that access to abortion is not universally supported, is not a universally recognized human right and ought not to be advanced or promoted at the United Nations. In fact, the sovereign laws of Member States vary from constitutional protection of the right to life beginning at the moment of conception to allowing abortion on demand until the moment of birth.

PFL admonishes CPD that the denial of a human being’s right to life and human dignity violates fundamental human rights and that all human beings have potential to make significant contributions to development. No life is expendable.

The complete submission statement can be read here.

April 7 Update: Fr. Pavone echo’s Archbishop Bernardito Auza’s statement of caution  to the United Nations

 “Respect for life from the moment of conception to natural death, even in the face of the great challenge of birth, must always inform policies, especially when it comes to international aid, which should be made available according to the real priorities of the receiving nation, and not by an imposed will of the donor. This respect for life must also guide the policies governments put in place to ensure that they benefit from “demographic dividends”.” Archbishop Auza issued the statement on the occasion of the Fiftieth Session of the Commission on Population and Development taking place this week at the United Nations where Priests for Life is an active participant and issued its own statement at the conference (above).

March 2017

Priests for Life Attending 61st Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

During the next two weeks, the 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) takes place at the United Nations in New York with the priority theme: Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work. Priests for Life is present at the meeting, represented by Bob Lalonde, PFL’s International Director, who is attending official CSW events, participating in a CSW briefing by the US Mission to the UN and collaborating with members of the UN pro-life coalition.

PFL submitted a statement to CSW written by Marie Smith, Director of PNCI, in which PFL addresses the discrimination that views pregnancy and motherhood as impediments to women’s economic empowerment and promotes access to abortion. The PFL statement includes, “If the principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that ‘no one is left behind’ is to become reality, a transformation is needed to end the prevailing negative view that discriminates not only against mothers and motherhood, but against pregnancy and preborn children and promotes access to abortion as a ‘reproductive right’, as ‘reproductive health’, as a ‘reproductive health service’, as a ‘reproductive health-care service’, or as ‘sexual health’.

PFL reminds CSW,

“Access to legal abortion does not have universal support, is not a universally recognized human right, and no treaty at the United Nations includes a so-called “right to abortion”. The sovereign laws of United Nations Member States vary in regards to recognition of the inherent dignity and worth of all human beings ranging from constitutional protection of life from the moment of conception to allowing abortion on demand until the moment of birth.”

“An overwhelming majority of countries do not consider access to abortion on demand necessary for women’s empowerment. They believe that abortion is an act of violence that denies a unique human being her or his most basic human right — the right to life.

“They believe that abortion discriminates against the youngest and most vulnerable human beings and in the case of sex selection abortion identifies and marks unborn baby girls for elimination.”

The work of Rachel’s Vineyard to help post-abortive women and men in over 70 countries grieve the traumatic loss of their unborn children and find emotional and spiritual healing is included in the submission.

The complete PFL statement can be found on the website of the Commission on the Status of Women—Statement submitted by Priests for Life—E/CN.6/2017/NGO/19. It is available in English - Spanish  - French

February 2017

Priests for Life Participates in 55th session of the Commission for Social Development

Priests for Life is at the United Nations participating in the 55th session of the Commission for Social Development (CoSD). Topics and issues dealing with ‘strategies for the eradication of poverty to achieve sustainable development’ are being discussed and debated. In its written submission, PFL calls for strategies to eradicate poverty that do not strip any member of the human family of innate dignity, marginalize them or treat them as a problem, rather than as a potential contributor to sustainable development.

PFL reminds CoSD that authentic sustainable development, if it is truly to “leave no one behind” as promised in the 2030 Agenda, ought not to allow any human being to be selectively marked as expendable during any stage of development from conception to natural death, including in population control and reproductive health programs that target unborn children for elimination.

All members of the human family are deserving of protection, including those have been classified as expendable by some and excluded from basic social protection. Life is not for the privileged, the perfect and the planned but extends to all.

The complete PFL statement can be found on the website of the Commission on Social Development—Statement submitted by Priests for Life, E/CN.5/2017/NGO/61. It is available in English | Français | Español

April 12, 2016

Priests for Life Calls on the UN to Respect All Lives

The 49th session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) is underway at the United Nations and is reminded by PFL in its submission statement of the words of Pope Francis who in his address to the United Nations General Assembly called for respect of all lives as the world undertakes new development goals. Pope Francis stated, “The common home of all men and women must continue to rise on the foundations of a right understanding of universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, the infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic”.

As CPD considers how to best use demographic data on the world’s population, PFL reaffirms Pope Francis’ view that our common home must rise on foundations that affirm the well-being, dignity and worth of all and that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development must lead to a world which recognizes and respects the worth of all lives, from conception to natural death.

PFL highlights the fact that a number of governments have responded to the demographic imbalance of ageing populations in their country by working to reduce the abortion rate and expresses support for these efforts.

PFL reminds CPD that according to the World Ageing Population Report 2013, the total number of persons aged 60 and over in the world is projected to exceed the number of children alive in the world for the first time in 2047 and that the number of older persons is expected to more than double, from 841 million people in 2013 to more than 2 billion in 2050

PFL expresses its concern that respect for those most advanced in years not be diminished by increased pressure for euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The entire PFL statement can be read here in English, Spanish, French.

March 2016

Priests for Life promotes respect for the lives of unborn baby girls at the UN

Priests for Life (PFL) is participating in the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations promoting respect for girls right from their very beginning at conception.

In its submitted statement, PFL states, “The girl child continues to face discrimination, which is most severe in the use of sex determination techniques that identify her presence in the womb and lead to her death in sex-selective abortion. The Beijing Platform for Action opposed this practice in paragraph 38 stating, ‘Discrimination against women begins at the earliest stages of life and must therefore be addressed from then onwards’.”

PFL reminds CSW that at the Beijing Women’s Conference it was recommended that governments: “Enact and enforce legislation protecting girls from all forms of violence, including female infanticide and prenatal sex selection”. If girls and women are to be valued and respected throughout their lives, prenatal discrimination that ends their lives must be stopped.

Tragically, however, there has been little progress to stop this first act of discrimination based on sex and efforts to ensure that girls have universal access to life itself have been stymied by a global failure to embrace consistent non-discriminatory protection of girls owing to pro-abortion politics. The result is over 160 million missing girls in Asia with sex selection abortion growing in countries and among ethnic groups with a male preference.

In an essay, “Girls Just Want to Be Born”, Marie Smith, a Representative of PFL to the United Nations and Director of the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues, explores the issue of sex selection abortion. She writes, “The innate right to life of unborn baby girls comes first in the universal quest for women’s and girls’ equality and empowerment, goals which can only truly be achieved when applied consistently during all stages of life, no exceptions.”

The PFL statement for CSW can be found on the official documents page for CSW where it is NGO statement #13, E/CN.6/2016/NGO/13 , available in English, Spanish, or French.  Or view here.

February 2016

Priests for Life Participates in 54th session of the Commission for Social Development

The 54th session of the Commission for Social Development (CoSD) is taking place at the United Nations in New York from February 3-12 with the theme “Rethinking and strengthening social development in the contemporary world”. In its submitted statement by Marie Smith as a representative of PFL to the United Nations, Priests for Life reminds the CoSD of the words of Pope Francis.

In his address to the United Nations General Assembly the Holy Father called for respect of all lives when he stated, “The common home of all men and women must continue to rise on the foundations of a right understanding of universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, the infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic.”

Priests for Life expresses agreement with these words of the Holy Father stating that our common home rises on the foundations that understand universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life and believes that social development policies ought to affirm the well-being, dignity and worth of all—every human life without exception— leading to a contemporary world which recognizes and respects the worth of all lives, from conception to natural death.

Priests for Life declares that the social inclusion of individuals, not their elimination or isolation, needs to be developed and implemented in all areas of social development explaining that the contemporary world we want is one in which every human life is valued for his or her innate worth and where no member of the human family is stripped of human dignity, marginalized and treated as a problem.

Priests for Life affirms that the struggle for social inclusion is most compelling for those individuals who are eliminated before birth, those who have a disability, those who suffer from illness or disease, those advanced in age, and those suffering from terminal illness or dementia.

The PFL statement, UN ID E/CN.5/2016/NGO/62, can be found on the CoSD website in English | Français | Español or on the PFL website.

June 2015

Priests for Life Defends the Unborn’s Right to Life at the UN

As a result of Priests for Life’s leadership, thirty pro-life statements were submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) in response to its call for submissions as it considers a new comment/interpretation of Article 6, “Right to life”, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. General Comment No. 36 could exclude unborn children from protection and treat them as an “exception” to the “Right to life”.

Article 6.1 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states: “Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.” However, pro-abortion activists serving on the HRC and pro-abortion organizations, including Amnesty International and the Center for Reproductive Rights, are seeking the disenfranchisement of unborn children proposing that as a group they be considered an “exception” and be denied a “right to life.”

Priests for Life strongly recommended that General Comment No.36 affirms a non-discriminatory application of the right to life that applies to all members of the human family stating that the right to life is the foundation of human rights and extends to all individuals from conception to natural death, concluding that no one ought to arbitrarily be denied their right to life.

PFL reminded the HRC that the Preamble calls for the rights of all members of the human family, without exception, as it states: “Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” followed by, “Recognizing that these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person.”

The PFL statement warned, “Selective exclusion of the “right to life” for any member of the human family impacts the right to life of all by bestowing an arbitrary status to an inalienable right that is dependent on the subjective views of others rendering the unborn child’s right to life contingent on whether or not she is “wanted” by another, considered “worthy of life”, or deemed “perfect” enough.”

Priests for Life compared Article 7 of the ICCPR which states, in part: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” to the violent methods of abortion. According to the PFL statement, “Abortion is a violent act that by its very nature is cruel, inhuman and degrading; it is a denial of human dignity and a violation of the right to life. Abortion methods dismember the developing human being inflicting excoriating pain when imposed on an unborn child past 20 weeks gestation who is capable of feeling pain. Dilation and Evacuation abortions tear the child limb by limb. Abortion imposes torture upon children.(1)”

Priests for Life reminded the HRC that both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR “recognized” that human beings have "inherent dignity" but did not bestow rights: “Governments, and international bodies, can neither bestow nor remove human dignity from a human being, but rather, they exist to preserve and protect rights that are inherent, that is, rights which reside by definition within the human being precisely because he or she is a human being, and not because he or she has earned or been awarded those rights by some outside entity.”

The six page PFL statement submitted by PFL UN Representative, Marie Smith, Director of PNCI, included calls to protect unborn baby girls from the discrimination of sex selective abortion and for care to be given to infants who survive abortion, “Children who survive abortion and are born alive are often denied medical care and assistance, left to die alone, cold and abandoned. Such treatment constitutes torture. Others may be killed to avoid the “dreaded consequence of abortion”—a live baby. This is a problem that affects all countries that allow late term abortions.(2)”

All submitted statements can be found on the HRC website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CCPR/Pages/WCRightToLife.aspx.  Read the entire Priests for Life statement here.

On July 14, the HRC will conduct a half day hearing and will issue General Comment No. 36 in the near future.

Footnotes:

 1 The Dilatation and Evacuation (D&E) Abortion Procedure: http://www.priestsforlife.org/resources/medical/demore.htm

 2 Late term abortionist Kermit Gosnell was convicted of three counts of first degree murder in Philadelphia resulting from his actions to kill infants who survived abortion. Philadelphia Abortion Doctor Guilty of Murder in Late-Term Procedures http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/us/kermit-gosnell-abortion-doctor-found-guilty-of-murder.html?_r=0

May 15, 2015

May 15 - In celebration of May 15 as “International Day of Families” as established by the United Nations, and looking forward to the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia with Pope Francis, Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, affirms the importance of the family as the heart of communities, cultures, and countries and urges protection for all its members.

“Saint John Paul II writing in Familiaris Consortio warned us when he said, ‘Nothing that directly compromises the family can benefit society’ and that ‘The future of humanity passes by way of the family’.”

“We know that nothing harms the family more than abortion”, states Father Pavone. “The shockwaves of abortion touch all members of the family and the impact extends to communities and cultures.”

Father Pavone urges that development policies and programs designed to eliminate poverty recognize the potential of all individuals to help to solve the problem of poverty rather than treating an entire class of people—preborn children in the womb— as “expendable” .

“All members of the family are deserving of protection, including those who have been excluded from basic social protection. No member of the family ought to be denied his or her most basic right — the right to life — through policies to end poverty and provide empowerment.”

“The intrinsic dignity of life is the foundation of human rights. Life is not just for the privileged, the perfect and the planned, but extends to all members of the human family, including defenseless preborn children.”

April 14, 2015

Priests for Life is participating in the 48th Session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) at the United Nations. The Priests for Life submission statement was one of twenty NGO statements highlighted on the CPD website, one of only two pro-life statements and over 10 pro-abortion statements.

Priests for Life addressed the theme of the meeting, “Realizing the Future We Want” stating: “The future we want is one in which every human life is valued for his or her innate worth and no member of the human family is stripped of human dignity and denied the most basic right — the right to life — through policies that allow individuals to be marginalized and treated as a problem, rather than as potential contributors to poverty eradication.”

Priests for Life reminded CPD that population control and reproductive health programs that target the elimination of children through abortion discriminate against children in the womb, and conflict with the Convention on the Rights of the Child which affirmed, “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as birth”.

Read the full statement written by Priests for Life’s Special Representative to the UN, Marie Smith. Marie is also the Director of Gospel of Life’s Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues and is serving on the Holy See Delegation to the CPD meeting. Bob Lalonde, Priests for Life’s International Director is representing Priests for Life at the meeting.

March 10, 2015

Priests for Life Opposes Sex Selection Abortion at the U.N.

Priests for Life reminds the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) that sex selection abortion is the first act of discrimination against women and girls and needs to end. In a written submission to the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which is considering the global progress for women since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995, Priests for Life’s Special Representative to the United Nations, and Director of the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI), Marie Smith, highlighted the fact that girls continue to be killed in the most extreme act of discrimination— sex selection abortion:

“The girl child continues to face discrimination which is most severe in the use of sex determination techniques that identify her presence in the womb and lead to her death in sex-selective abortion. The Beijing Platform opposed the practice of prenatal sex selection in paragraph 38 stating “Discrimination against women begins at the earliest stages of life and must therefore be addressed from then onwards”.
Tragically, there has been little progress to stop this first act of discrimination against the girl child as the practice continues in countries and among cultures with a son preference. Anti-girl child discrimination also results in the killing of infant girls through infanticide or abandonment. The three most dangerous words in the world continue to be “It’s a girl”.

We seek to ensure that respect for girls begins right from the start  - while they are developing in the womb -  as stated in the Platform. Our organization works to ensure that unborn baby girls are protected from abortion and guaranteed their right to life. It is our belief that the lives of all newly created individuals, regardless of sex, deserve respect, protection and non-discrimination.”

The statement also addressed the linkage between violence against women and their procreative capacity as revealed in coerced abortion:
“Pregnant women face threats and pressure to abort their child. Upon refusal, women in the United States have reported being slapped, punched and threatened, including with deadly weapons, until they consent to abortion. Others have been assaulted and subjected to violent assaults directed at destroying the child in the womb or have been given abortion inducing drugs without their knowledge or consent.”

The entire Priests for Life statement— U.N. # E/CN.6/2015/NGO/127—can be read here. It can also be viewed in Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese and Arabic on the CSW website http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/CN.6/2015/NGO/127

February 5, 2015

Priests for Life defending life at the UN

Priests for Life is participating in the 53rd Session of the Commission for Social Development where it is affirming that no member of the family should be stripped of his or her human dignity and denied his or her most basic right — the right to life— through policies that treat the individual as a problem and not as part of the solution to social development.

In a written statement submitted to the Commission on the theme “Rethinking and strengthening social development in the contemporary world”, Marie Smith, PFL’s Special Representative to the United Nations, and Director of the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI), reminds the Commission that the well-being, dignity and worth of all—every human life without exception— is the foundation of policies and programs that liberate countries and, most importantly, people from poverty. That all individuals have the potential to make significant contributions to eradicating poverty; no life is expendable.

PFL emphasizes that the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development recognized the critical role of spirituality in Chapter I: “Social development is inseparable from the cultural, ecological, economic, political and spiritual environment in which it takes place” and that future progress in social development be respectful and mindful of the synergies and linkage between social development and spirituality. The statement criticized the efforts of pro-abortion activists which portray religious beliefs as “barriers to progress” in attempts to change national laws on abortion in countries which protect babies from the violence of abortion.

As the UN deliberates the new sustainable development goals, the PFL statement issues a reminder that it is essential to incorporate and affirm respect for the various religious and ethical values and cultural backgrounds of people. For it is religion and spirituality that give meaning and purpose to life, affirm the dignity of each and every human being, and contribute to the well-being of all—the ultimate purpose of social development.

The English language version of the Priests for Life submission can be read here..

Additionally, the Priests for Life statement— E/CN.5/2015/NGO/39—appears on the website of the Commission for Social Development in French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic.

October 17, 2014

Archbishop Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations at the General Assembly at a Third Committee meeting of the Rights of Children (Agenda Item 64 (a,b)) gave an unbridled defense of unborn children on 17 October 2014 by saying “too many children are denied the most fundamental right to life; that prenatal selection eliminates babies suspected to have disabilities and female children simply because of their sex…” And reminded member states that the Convention on the Rights of the Child which celebrates its 25th anniversary in November “contains such fundamental principles as the protection of the rights of the child before as well as after birth, the family as the natural environment for the growth and education of children, and the right of the child to health care and education.”

See Statement.

October 9, 2014

Archbishop Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations at the General Assembly Debate on the follow-up of the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development on October 9 continued his strong defense of the unborn by stating

“.. the Holy See notes that too often, the role of the ICPD on maternal health is used to promote “reproductive health rights” detrimental to the unborn human life and the integral needs of women themselves. Efforts to address maternal mortality, obstetric fistula, child mortality, prenatal and antenatal care, sexually transmitted diseases and other health matters are at times hampered by policies that fail to take into account the right to life of the unborn child. Suggesting that reproductive health includes a “right to abortion” explicitly violates the language of the ICPD, oftentimes defies moral and legal standards within local communities, and divides efforts to address the real needs of mothers and children.

Read statement

September 22, 2014

PFL UN Representatives where at the UN when Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the new Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations weighed in with a life affirming statement at the 29th Special Session of the General Assembly on the follow-up of the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development New York, 22 September when he said “My delegation is concerned that documents and discussions successive to the Cairo Conference have shown a constant insistence on “reproductive health and rights” without due regard to the unborn. Attempts to suggest that the term “reproductive health” includes the right to abortion explicitly violate the language of the ICPD and divide efforts to address the real need of mothers and children.

Read statement

August 5, 2014

Our Priests for Llife UN Representative was present for the Dialogue with Member States on the rule of law at the international level “Presentation of the Secretary-General’s Guidance Note on Reparations for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence” (organized by the Rule of Law Unit, Executive Office of the Secretary-General) Friday, 1 August 2014. Where buried at the end of the document on the last page (p.20) and not referenced at all in the presentation was a statement inviting “Among other legislative measures that are needed, legislation is required to provide women and girls, who become pregnant as a result of rape, with the choice of safe and legal abortion."

Th‎e effect of which would force every UN dependent country in need of post conflict assistance to agree to legalize and provide abortions in order to receive any other assistance. In other words, compounding one terrible human tragedy by adding another.

May 15, 2014

In a United Nations side-event organized by the Holy See Mission and presided over by Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Archbishop Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family reminded delegates of Pope Francis’ words to UN agency heads at the Vatican on May 9 saying “… that human life is sacred and inviolable from conception to its natural ending,…” Archbishop Paglia went to on to say that “the family not only ‘matters,’ it is rather at the very heart of human development, indispensable and irreplaceable, and at the same time beautiful and welcoming.”

Archbishop Paglia was also in the US for meetings in Philadelphia, site of next year's Vatican World Meeting of Families worldmeeting2015.org taking place September 22-27.

Click here to read the full text of the statement.

April 10, 2014

The statement was read during the 47th Session of the Commission on Population and Development, taking place in New York, 7-11 April by Msgr. Janusz Urbanczyk, Chargé d'Affaires, Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations where he reminded the assembly that

According to the report of the Secretary General, no fewer than 80 countries now register a fertility rate below replacement level. These statistics should be a great cause for alarm, as expressed in another report of the Secretary General: Old-age support ratios, defined as the number of working-age adults per older person in the population, are already low in most countries of the more developed regions and are expected to continue to fall in the coming decades, ensuring continued fiscal pressure on support systems for older people. The unsustainable phenomenon of ageing populations can only be resolved by promoting family life and fertility. Support systems for the ageing can only be sustained by a larger, not smaller, next generation, either by paying into a social security system, or by providing intergenerational family support directly.

My delegation wishes to express grave concern over a very proscriptive approach taken in the zero draft of the outcome document, towards the implementation of the ICPD. This approach seems to treat fertility and pregnancy as a disease which must either be prevented or managed via government or outside assistance. While this may well reflect the concerns of certain highly developed countries, on a universal scale it certainly skews the population and development realities for the most part of the developing countries of the world, for whom other issues take greater priority. My delegation is of the view that a more sensible approach should focus less on reducing fertility and more on programs and values which support integral human development, namely: personal, social, and spiritual development. Access to education, economic opportunity, political stability, basic health care, and support for the family should serve as the key priorities for achieving such integral human development.

An issue of great international sensitivity is an insistent promotion of so-called sexual and reproductive "rights", almost to the exclusion of any other issue. This reflects an improper overtaking of the ICPD Programme of Action by efforts to promote the legalization and/or liberalization of abortion laws, whether by Member States or some UN Agencies, who openly promote laws providing for legal abortion.

However, the Programme of Action in no way promotes abortion, but expressly repudiates it as a mean of controlling families or the population. The ICPD denies that it creates any new rights in this regard. Such laws and policies remain the prerogative of individual Member States according to the Programme of Action. All States emphasized at Cairo that Governments should help women avoid recourse to abortion.

Pope Francis recently addressed this issue:

Among the vulnerable for whom the church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenseless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this. . [T]he church cannot be expected to change her position on this question. It is not 'progressive' to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life.

The Holy See continues to serve at the front-line addressing greater global poverty, human rights and development. Through its presence and emphasis on providing quality and affordable education, health care, access to food and respect for all human rights, the Holy See demonstrates that care and compassion for the poor, rather than focusing on fertility reduction, serves as a model for a truly human-centered approach to development.

Priests for Life in its role as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations is participating in the 47th meeting of the Commission on Population and Development http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/index.shtml and also called attention to the critical period of development in the first 1000 days of life-from conception to the second birthday- in its statement posted on the CPD website. http://papersmart.unmeetings.org/en/ecosoc/cpd/47th-session/documents/

April 10, 2014

The statement read by Msgr. Janusz Urbanczyk, Chargé d'Affaires, Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations Commission on Population and Development 47th Session United Nations Headquarters, New York, 10 April 2014 reminded the assembly that

According to the report of the Secretary General, no fewer than 80 countries now register a fertility rate below replacement level. These statistics should be a great cause for alarm, as expressed in another report of the Secretary General: Old-age support ratios, defined as the number of working-age adults per older person in the population, are already low in most countries of the more developed regions and are expected to continue to fall in the coming decades, ensuring continued fiscal pressure on support systems for older people. The unsustainable phenomenon of ageing populations can only be resolved by promoting family life and fertility. Support systems for the ageing can only be sustained by a larger, not smaller, next generation, either by paying into a social security system, or by providing intergenerational family support directly.

My delegation wishes to express grave concern over a very proscriptive approach taken in the zero draft of the outcome document, towards the implementation of the ICPD. This approach seems to treat fertility and pregnancy as a disease which must either be prevented or managed via government or outside assistance. While this may well reflect the concerns of certain highly developed countries, on a universal scale it certainly skews the population and development realities for the most part of the developing countries of the world, for whom other issues take greater priority. My delegation is of the view that a more sensible approach should focus less on reducing fertility and more on programs and values which support integral human development, namely: personal, social, and spiritual development. Access to education, economic opportunity, political stability, basic health care, and support for the family should serve as the key priorities for achieving such integral human development.

An issue of great international sensitivity is an insistent promotion of so-called sexual and reproductive “rights”, almost to the exclusion of any other issue. This reflects an improper overtaking of the ICPD Programme of Action by efforts to promote the legalization and/or liberalization of abortion laws, whether by Member States or some UN Agencies, who openly promote laws providing for legal abortion.

However, the Programme of Action in no way promotes abortion, but expressly repudiates it as a mean of controlling families or the population. The ICPD denies that it creates any new rights in this regard. Such laws and policies remain the prerogative of individual Member States according to the Programme of Action. All States emphasized at Cairo that Governments should help women avoid recourse to abortion.

Pope Francis recently addressed this issue:

Among the vulnerable for whom the church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenseless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this. … [T]he church cannot be expected to change her position on this question… It is not ‘progressive’ to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life

The Holy See continues to serve at the front-line addressing greater global poverty, human rights and development. Through its presence and emphasis on providing quality and affordable education, health care, access to food and respect for all human rights, the Holy See demonstrates that care and compassion for the poor, rather than focusing on fertility reduction, serves as a model for a truly human-centered approach to development.

Priests for Life in its role as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations is participating in the 47th meeting of the Commission on Population and Development http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/index.shtml and also called attention to the critical period of development in the first 1000 days of life—from conception to the second birthday— in its statement posted on the CPD website. http://papersmart.unmeetings.org/en/ecosoc/cpd/47th-session/documents/

April 7, 2014

Priests for Life in its role as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations is participating in the 47th meeting of the Commission on Population and Development  and calls attention to the critical period of development in the first 1000 days of life—from conception to the second birthday— in its statement posted on the CPD website.

The week-long meeting focuses on the priority theme, "Assessment of the status of implementation of the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development."  Priests for Life reminds CPD that programs that promote the well-being of women must also protect children’s lives - the health of children begins in the womb. It is increasingly recognized that the first 1000 days of life -  from conception to the child’s second birthday - is a critical period that determines the health of a child for his or her entire life. Priests for Life calls on CSW to focus on this ‘window of opportunity’ and ensure that women of childbearing age are well nourished so they are healthier and better able to provide nourishment for their preborn children, ensuring healthy physical and cognitive development. Healthy children grow up to be healthy adults who are better equipped to make meaningful contributions to their families and society.

Read the full statement

March 17, 2014

Father Pavone, along with several other NGOs, is co-sponsoring an important side event at the UN on Tuesday March 18 at 12:00 entitled “Family, Motherhood and Development Goals” in the Hardin Room, Church Center UN 777 UN Plaza. 2014 marks the 20th Anniversary of the International Year for the Family, and the priority theme of the 58th session of the Commission is “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”.  See flyer.

March 12, 2014

Priests for Life in its role as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations is participating in the 48th meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and calls attention to the critical period of development in the first 1000 days of life—from conception to the second birthday— in its statement posted on the CSW website. http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw58-2014/official-documents

The two week meeting focuses on the priority theme, “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”. Father Pavone notes, “The world has made great progress in reducing maternal deaths and continued efforts to protect the lives of mothers must not include access to abortion. Abortion is not health care; abortion destroys the lives of precious children while often harming their mothers.”

Priests for Life reminds CSW that programs that promote the well-being of women must also protect children’s lives — the health of children begins in the womb. It is increasingly recognized that the first 1000 days of life— from conception to the child’s second birthday—is a critical period that determines the health of a child for his or her entire life. Priests for Life calls on CSW to focus on this ‘window of opportunity’ and ensure that women of childbearing age are well nourished so they are healthier and better able to provide nourishment for their preborn children, ensuring healthy physical and cognitive development. Healthy children grow up to be healthy adults who are better equipped to make meaningful contributions to their families and society.

Read the full statement

February 5, 2014

As a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council, Priests for Life will be participating in the Fifty-Second Session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD52) February 11-21, 2014 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. PFL submitted a statement on the priority theme "Promoting empowerment of people in achieving poverty eradication, social integration and full employment and decent work for all" which has been posted on the website of the CSocD52 in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese.

Father Pavone states, “It is important that we remind the UN Commission on Social Development that the dignity and intrinsic value of every human being must be protected and upheld in all policies and programs that seek to end poverty and provide employment and decent work for all. No life is expendable.”

Priests for Life by participating in this latest UN meeting will again advance respect for all members of the family, from conception to natural death, and affirm that the intrinsic dignity of life is the foundation of human rights. The PFL statement includes, “Fundamental respect for human life—and human rights—cannot be negotiable or contingent on age, sex, race, disability, wantedness, condition of dependency or stage of development.”

“Life is not just for the privileged, the perfect and the planned but extends to all members of the human family, including preborn children. Policies to eradicate poverty must recognize the potential of all individuals to help solve the problem of poverty and not treat people as the problem.” Read the full statement.

October 21, 2013

Fr. Pavone applauds Archbishop Chullikatt, the Pope’s personal representative at the United Nations, for his constant and unwavering support of the unborn child and his recent remarks at the UN defending the child’s rights both “before and after birth”. He stated that “Indeed, without life, all other rights are meaningless.” Archbishop Chullikatt spoke in response to the Secretary General’s Report on the Status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. See more holyseemission.org/statements/statement.aspx?id=446

April 26, 2013

On the occasion of the 46th Session of the UN’s Commission on Population and Development, taking place this past week in NY and where Priests for Life delegates have been participating, members were reminded by the Holy See’s Archbishop Francis A. Chullikatt, Apostolic Nuncio in a statement delivered to the assembly, that

“we cannot fail to recognize the impact that the enactment of draconian population control policies have wreaked on countries whose populations can no longer sustain themselves, nor the destructive impact that the forced promotion of harmful notions, such as reproductive rights, has had on migrant families, trivialising marriage and the family and denying the very right to life for the unborn. Such a promotion of population control as a way to development has also led States to use forced abortion and sterilization as a means for controlling or mitigating the demographic and racial impact of migrants on their countries. States, on the contrary, have the duty to bolster the family, “the fundamental group unit of society”[6], so as to provide support for the institution where the relations of tomorrow must be cultivated.

The full statement can be found at http://holyseemission.org/statements/statement.aspx?id=414

February 21, 2013

Fr Pavone applauds Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, for important remarks he made on the family at a United Nations event sponsored by The Holy See Mission entitled “The Family, a Resource for Society”. The February 15th address was given in preparation for the Twentieth Anniversary of the International Year of the Family under the auspices of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The President spoke of “the family as the fundamental resource of society, the source of social capital and the birthright of all humanity.” Priests for Life UN delegates were present for the address which can be found in its entirety at http://www.holyseemission.org/events/event.aspx?id=37

February 18, 2013

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women - General Discussion on "access to justice"

The UN treaty monitoring body, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), held a General Discussion on "access to justice" yesterday in Geneva in preparation for the writing of its “General Recommendation” on “access to justice”. General Recommendations are used by CEDAW to address issues that are not part of the treaty and are used at times to promote the radical agenda. The treaty does not in any way promote abortion, yet the committee often recommends that countries change laws that restrict or ban abortion. In their written submissions, pro-abortion activists argued that legal abortion is necessary for women to have “access to justice” presenting abortion as a human right and urging the elimination of laws protecting the child in the womb from the violence of abortion.

Marie Smith, a PFL representative to the UN and Director of the Gospel of Life ministry Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI), wrote the PFL statement that highlights the facts that international law recognizes the need to protect the child from the moment of conception and that nearly every country in the world bans the death penalty for pregnant women, thereby protecting the life of the innocent child in the womb. Father Pavone supported the statement declaring, “Abortion denies life to the preborn child; it is an act of injustice. Laws against abortion recognize the need to protect both the vulnerable child and his or her mother from the destruction of abortion. They should be upheld as just and humane laws that recognize the innate dignity of every life.”

Read the full text of the Priests for Life statement.

December 13, 2012

Priests for Life at the UN—Prevention and Elimination of Violence Against Girls and Women

Priests for Life, as a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council, is participating in a two day forum of interested parties at the United Nations in New York, to highlight the areas where women and girls are the victims of violence and what actions need to be taken to both prevent and eliminate such violence.

Priests for Life has submitted a statement to the CSW by Father Frank Pavone that highlights the violence of sex selection abortion and forced abortion as well as the violence inherent in any abortion act. Father Pavone states, “Abortion by its very nature is an act of violence directed at the preborn child, but it also harms, exploits and degrades women.” He addresses the global issue of violence against girls, “Sustainable elimination of violence against women and girls must begin where the violence begins - in the womb. Sex selection abortion is the ultimate act of discrimination against girls - a baby girl is identified in utero and her life ended simply because she is a baby girl.”

PFL will be sending a delegation to the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women and will work with other organizations to raise the issue of abortion as violence against women and girls. As Father Pavone stated in the conclusion of the PFL statement, “True equality for girls with boys begins when both are welcomed in the womb and at birth, and protected in law. Women need to be valued as equals to men and recognized and respected for their unique capacity to bear children and give birth. Their lives should be free of violence and they should be assisted in their critical role of mothers. The future of each and every country depends on healthy women and girls.”

Read the full text of the Priests for Life statement

September 20, 2012

Fr. Pavone said he was pleased by the very positive dialogue that took place in Rome during the PFL sponsored event for NGOs hosted by the Pontifical Council for the Family and relevant offices of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. Priests for Life was pleased back in July to announce to all its supporters that it was sponsoring and promoting a three-day training course in Rome September 13-15 for Catholic-Inspired NGOs. The event gathered speakers and participants for training and networking and had at its heart the promotion and defense of the rights and dignity of human life and featured contributions from leading international scholars.

Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, said" "We were truly honored to collaborate in this important initiative and invite all to join us in prayer for God's blessing upon the conference participants as they continue the necessary task of bringing to the world the message of the Gospel of Life."

Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.

May 2, 2012

Father Pavone expressed support for the statement by the Holy See Mission emphasizing the importance of parents and family in matters pertaining to adolescents and youth at the 45th session of the Conference on Population and Development. Father Pavone agreed that “The family is the original nucleus of society, the primordial foundation of social ties and the locus where the relations of tomorrow--nuptial, parental, filial, fraternal--are cultivated.” Additionally, Father Pavone supported the Holy See statement affirming the family— “the singular and irreplaceable value of the family founded upon matrimony and the inviolability of human life from conception until natural death must be affirmed.”

Delegates to the meeting negotiated for seven days on issues pertaining to youth from ages 10 to 24 and included discussion and disagreements on abortion, parental rights and responsibilities, and national laws on abortion. The Holy See voiced strong opposition to the use of any term that could promote abortion including “reproductive health services”, “reproductive rights”, and “comprehensive sexuality education”.

At the conclusion of the meeting Father Pavone stated “It is encouraging to see countries that support the dignity of life for children in the womb raising their voices to object to efforts to advance the death of vulnerable unborn children in the name of development. May more countries find the courage to speak up at UN venues to affirm the lives of children, mothers and the family. Children are the most precious resource of any country and their lives need to be affirmed and protected by all.”

April 22, 2012

PFL is on the scene as the UN’s Commission on Population and Development (CPD) is kicking off its forty-fifth session in New York this week with a week-long meeting on the theme “Adolescents and Youth” with an emphasis on reproductive health and rights, terms defined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to include abortion. The very terms "adolescents and youth" are also not clearly defined and can include youth from ages 10-24.

The CPD’s draft resolution for the meeting includes a strong push by some governments to promote access to “safe abortion” under the auspice of sexual and reproductive health for youth. A coalition of European governments--Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom-- have broken from the European country group and organized under the title the “Likeminded Group” to promote this radical agenda along with the United States and various other developed countries.

Fr. Frank Pavone reacts, "This focus is very timely, as the rising generation of youth is expected to be the largest in history as the birth rate plummets around the world. Young people deserve special attention but programs and policies for adolescents must not include the death of the youngest members of the human family--children in the womb. The human dignity of all members of the human family must be upheld and programs developed to help young people reach adulthood with the skills needed to lead productive lives and the values instilled to respect and affirm the right to life from conception to natural death."

February 8, 2012 – Fr. Pavone receives international support for his written statement to the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women which is preparing to meet in NY February 27 to March 9, 2012. The following NGOs have already lent their support:

Institute for Family Policy (IPF)
International Association of Charities (IAC)
International Solidarity and Human Rights Institute (ISHR)
Society of Catholic Social Scientists (SCSS)
World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations (WUCWO)

The theme of the conference is “The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges”. Fr. Pavone’s statement is available here. Priests for Life UN delegates will be participating in the upcoming conference and working with a coalition to help protect the true interests of women throughout the world. More information on the conference is available on the UN site.

February 7, 2012 – Fr. Pavone is pleased to join other international NGOs in co-sponsoring a side event at the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women meeting in NY February 27 to March 9, 2012. The event is entitled “Fighting Maternal Discrimination: A New Challenge for the XXI Century”. The event takes place 6 March 2012 at 6:15pm at the Boss Room, 8th Floor at the CCUN building and is being organized by the Institute for Family Policy (IPF). The IFP states that:

"If the twentieth century marked the emergence of women in the workplace, the challenge of the XXI century will be the recognition of their rights as women and mothers at work"

The past century has seen women's access to employment, thus contributing to economic development and growth of western societies. Women are no longer spectators of the political, economic, social and cultural changes, but have decided to take part in all the areas that make up society. The contribution of the feminine genius to the world of finance, politics, businesses, industries, culture, NGOs, development cooperation ... is certainly positive, but we must not forget the sacrifices that they had to perform in a world which has been eminently male. Sacrifices that have brought about a rupture with a sphere no less import ant than the former: the family. The same need for justice that demanded the participation of women in decision-making emerges today to recognize them not only as working women but also as working mothers.

XXI century rulers should take steps to achieve harmonization of work organization and legislation with the rights of working mothers. Measures to enable women to develop their career choice without being forced to delay motherhood or even to give it up in order to avoid tensions in the workplace. We must defend the right of mothers to choose whether or not they want to work outside home without detrimental to family life and without being discriminated in the workplace. This will provide personal balance, family harmony and ultimately fulfillment of the right of women to a comprehensive personal development in all facets of their lives.

More information on the conference is available on the UN site.

February 6, 2012

Fr. Pavone endorsed an oral statement to the UN’s 50th Commission on Social Development prepared by Marie Smith, Director of PNCI, one of PFL’s senior representatives at the United Nations. The Commission on Social Development is meeting in NY February 1 to 10, 2012 and the priority theme this year is "Poverty Eradication". Marie Smith said that:

Priests for Life applauds the focus of the Fiftieth Session of the Commission for Social Development on Poverty Eradication and affirms the need to assist and protect the family. The family is the foundation of society; no social construct can replace or take its place. All individuals who compose the family are at the center of development as recognized by the General Assembly in the Declaration on the Right to Development (A/Res/41/128), “…that the human person is the central subject of the development process and that development policy should therefore make the human being the main participant and beneficiary of development.”

Regrettably, far too often the reverse is the operative policy, and in the name of “development” people are considered expendable. Authentic development includes all members of the family in policies and programs and supports the family when it is suffering from economic and social hardship and deprivation.

The full statement is available here. Priests for Life UN delegates will be participating in the upcoming conference and working with various coalitions to help protect the true interests of women worldwide. More information on the conference is available on the UN site.

December 13, 2011

Fr. Pavone issued a statement to the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women which is preparing to meet in NY February 27 to March 9, 2012. The theme of the conference is “The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges”. Fr. Pavone stated that:

“Health care in any form, including maternal health or reproductive health, that includes access to abortion is not health care. Abortion ends the life of one patient and may injure the other physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. True women’s rights and freedom will never exist until women’s reproductive capacity is valued and their children are cherished by the men who father them.”

The full statement is available here. Priests for Life UN delegates will be participating in the upcoming conference and working with a coalition to help protect the true interests of women throughout the world. More information on the conference is available on the UN site.

September 16, 2011

Father Frank Pavone commends Archbishop Tomasi for his strong defense of life at the United Nations in Geneva

Father Frank Pavone commends Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and Specialized Agencies in Geneva, for his strong defense of life during the 18th Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC). Archbishop Tomasi responded to the presentation of a radical report on maternal health by the UN’s top human rights official, High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pillay, that promotes abortion in the strongest terms and cites data, arguments and documents from pro-abortion organizations including IPPF and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The report, Practices in adopting a human rights-based approach to eliminate preventable maternal mortality and human rights (A/HRC/18/27) advances the legalization of abortion as necessary to reduce maternal mortality and as essential in the context of human rights and urges countries to overturn pro-life laws.

Archbishop Tomasi, as head of the Holy See delegation, spoke of the need to reduce the 350,000 maternal deaths that occur each year and improve the lives of women. He took exception to the abortion and family planning sections of the report stating, “We believe, moreover, that abortion, which destroys existing human life,… is never an acceptable method of family planning, as was recognized by consensus at the Mexico City United Nations International Conference on Population (1984). Thus we find it totally unacceptable for so-called “safe abortion” to be promoted by the Report being discussed during the current Session of the Human Rights Council or, perhaps even more significantly, by the United National Global Strategy for Women’s and Children Health, launched by the UN Secretary General in September 2010.”

The Archbishop cited evidence-based data from the World Health Organization (WHO) that demonstrates women in Africa “die primarily from five major causes: hypertensive diseases, obstructed labour, haemorrhage, sepsis and infection, and HIV-related diseases.” He condemned efforts to divert funding for health care to programs for abortion and contraception and concluded: “… the Holy See Delegation expresses the firm hope that the international community will succeed in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality by promoting effective interventions that are based on deep and abiding values as well as on scientific and medical knowledge and that are respectful of the sacredness of life from conception to natural death, for “[t]he presence of a mother within the family is so important for the stability and growth of this fundamental cell of society, that it should be recognized, commended and supported in every possible way.”

Father Pavone commends Archbishop Tomasi for his statement, “Archbishop Tomasi’s strong defense of life is much needed at the United Nations, especially at the Human Rights Council as we see increased pro-abortion activity to distort God-given human rights to advance the death of children in the womb. As a registered non-governmental organization (NGO), Priests for Life has been advancing life-affirming solutions to save the lives of both mothers and children at the United Nations. The archbishop’s clear articulation of support for the lives and livelihoods of mothers while opposing the death of their precious children through abortion exemplifies the focus of the international pro-life movement to “love them both” and to provide women with the resources they need to choose life for their child.”

Click here for photos

July 25, 2011 – Fr. Pavone applauds youth prolife leaders at Holy See Mission Official Side-Event and 57,000 Young People Send a Protest Message, all this to help kick-off the United Nations High-level Meeting on Youth July 25-26

As part of the International Year of Youth, the UN General Assembly is holding a High Level meeting this week with its overarching theme “Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding”. The world event is made up of two consecutive informal interactive thematic panel discussions addressing the following themes:

1. Strengthening international cooperation regarding youth and enhancing dialogue, mutual understanding and active youth participation as indispensable elements towards achieving social integration, full employment and the eradication of poverty;

2. Challenges to youth development and opportunities for poverty eradication, employment and sustainable development.

At the end of the High Level Meeting, Member States will adopt an outcome document that is currently being negotiated between Member States during informal consultations. Before the start of the negotiation process between Member States, Youth-led organizations had been invited to submit their inputs for the outcome document. The UN Program on Youth had received inputs from 89 youth organizations, representing young people all over the globe. For more info on High-Level Youth Meeting Click Here

Fr. Pavone applauds youth prolife leaders at Holy See Mission Official Side-Event pointing out that “our youth are not simply the “future leaders” of the pro-life movement. They are leaders here and now, in more ways than one.” None give greater evidence of this than the young people the Holy See Mission gathered for their Official Side-Event entitled Youth Protecting and Promoting Human Dignity. H.E. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations made opening remarks and introduced five young speakers who discussed how they and their organizations protect and promote human dignity.

Kristan Hawkins, the Executive Director of Students for Life of America, will speak about her work promoting a culture of life on college campuses around the United States.

Leah Darrow, former America’s Next Top Model contestant, will speak about her own experience discovering the virtue of modesty and the value of chastity in a western culture that idolizes appearances and pleasure.

Meghan Knighton, a development officer at the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, will speak about CNEWA’s work highlighting the work of upholding human dignity that CNEWA undertakes, including providing emergency shelter and medical care, micro-credit programs, and charitable service of the sick and disabled.

Jeffrey Azize and Michael Campo, actor and actor/producer respectively of the critically-acclaimed documentary “The Human Experience,” will speak about their experiences traveling the world, and how they learned from others – homeless in New York City, abandoned children in Peru, and lepers of rural Ghana- what it means to be human.

For more info go to Holy See Mission

C-FAM reported that 57,000 Young People sent a Protest Message and presented a statement signed by 120,000. “We do not agree with much of the document produced by governments for the High Level Meeting on youth,” says Tyler Ament, Director of the International Youth Coalition. “We also do not agree with the messages being put out by UN agencies like sex rights for young people and other objectionable ideas.”

Ament and his colleagues presented a Youth Statement to the UN and the World that has been signed by 120,000 people including 57,000 under the age of 30. “The Youth Statement recognizes the rights of parents and calls for policy makers to return to basics and get away from dangerous ideas that are harmful to young people,” says Ament.

The International Youth Coalition is a group of young people from around the world that celebrates the fact that humans are made in the image of God, intrinsically relational, and are called to live a life with purpose and meaning. Click for more info on C-FAM and the International Youth Coalition.

June 11, 2011 – The United Nations held a General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS June 8 -10 in NY. Member States came together ten years after the adoption of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and five years after the adoption of the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS. The Holy See Mission was actively involved in the assembly meeting and Professor Jane Adolphe, Associate Professor of Law at Ave Maria School of Law and a member of the Holy See Delegation, stated that the Holy See “delegation remains committed to achieving the goal of halting and reversing the spread of HIV by promoting the only universally effective, safe and affordable means of halting the spread of the disease: abstinence before marriage and mutual fidelity within marriage, avoiding risk taking and irresponsible behaviors and promoting universal access to drugs which prevent the spread of HIV from mother-to-child”. For the full Holy See statement please click here.  For more information from the UN on the High-Level Meeting on AIDS click here.

June 9, 2011 – The Holy See Mission’s Path to Peace Gala Dinner drew record attendance at the New York Athletic Club. Fr. Frank Pavone was again pleased to support the important work of the Path to Peace Foundation this year by sending Bob Lalonde, Priests for Life’s representative to the UN to the event. The Path to Peace Foundation was established by Cardinal Renato Martino, former Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, to support the activities of the Holy See Mission. Archbishop Chullikatt, the current Permanent Observer and Cardinal Martino enthralled the capacity crowd with stories of their personal visits with Pope John Paul II. Please click here to view pictures and press release. 

April 13, 2011 – With the United Nations 44th Commission on Population and Development in full swing promoting a theme of “Fertility, reproductive health, and development” Fr. Frank Pavone wholeheartedly came out in support of yesterday’s statement by H.E. Archbishop Francis A. Chullikatt, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See “in favor of the adoption of policies which encourage marriages that are open to and welcome children, and which also provide families the necessary assistance in bearing and rearing children, including those with large families”. The Apostolic Nuncio cautioned that “there is a “distorted world-view [that] regards the poor as a problem to be commoditized and managed as if they were inconsequential objects rather than as unique persons with innate dignity and worth who require the full commitment of the international community to provide assistance so that they can realize their full potential”. For the full statement read here.

Priests for Life is an accredited Non Governmental Organization and its delegation is actively participating in the 44th Commission on Population and Development taking place April 11-15. This year’s theme is “Fertility, reproductive health, and development.” More on the conference here.

April 7, 2011 - Priests for Life participated in the Holy See’s kick-off side event marking the start of the 44th Session of the Commission on Population and Development at the United Nations in NY with a panel discussion on Secure Human Development: Marriage, Family, Community. H.E. Archbishop Francis A. Chullikatt, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations gave the opening remarks reaffirming Church teaching that “…for integral human development to take place, we must put people first. We must respect the inherent dignity of each and every person, and we must recognize that the true measure of authentic development in any society is how much it protects, respects and promotes all human life including the unborn, the disabled, the elderly, and all who are suffering.” Full statement here (pdf).

Expert panelists included Yuri Mantilla, L.L.M., Director of International Government Affairs for Focus on the Family who addressed the important topic of “The Right to Life and Development: A Latin American Perspective”. Yuri was followed by Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D., Vice President of Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute who dealt with the strategic importance of "Demography and Development: How Falling Fertility Affects Global Security" and Wendy Wright, President, Concerned Women for America “Human Sexuality, Marriage, and Family from a Woman’s Perspective.”

March 3, 2011 – Priests for Life statement to the Commission on the Status of Women's panel on Elimination of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and the empowerment of women.

Progress is being made in eliminating maternal mortality and morbidity, but the lives of women continue to be jeopardized by a lack of access to health care. As the UN advances a new integrated approach to health care, Priests for Life recognizes the critical role of faith based organizations and urges respect and protection of the right of conscience.

The World Health Organization estimates that faith based organizations provide as much as well over half of all health care services in countries in Africa. Faith based organizations are critical partners in the global effort to eliminate maternal mortality and their continued delivery of maternal health care must be ensured. Attempts to impose induced abortion and other programs that conflict with religious values and beliefs interferes with fundamental rights and will detrimentally impact faith based organizations. The protection of rights of conscience, belief and religion, are enshrined in all international treaties and bodies, beginning with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Belief in the sanctity of life and respect for the dignity for all human beings - regardless of condition of dependency or disability or stage of development - is the foundation that inspires and motivates most organizations based on faith to deliver compassionate and competent health care. Evidence shows that the provision of basic life-affirming maternal health care - which necessarily excludes abortion - enables greater reduction in maternal deaths and thus better protection of women and children.

The intrinsic dignity of life is also the foundation of human rights. Our commitment to human rights springs from our commitment to the protection, affirmation, and defense of all human persons – those born and those residing in the womb –as the Convention on the Rights of Child explicitly reminds us. The provision of health care services that respect and affirm the dignity of each and every human being are essential to continued progress in reducing both maternal and child mortality. Nearly nine million children - including 4 million newborns - die each year from preventable causes. Efforts to save and promote the dignity and well-being of women must also save and protect all children’s lives, both in and out of the womb. Life at all stages of the life cycle must be valued and respected.

International organizations which perform illegal abortions, which advise women on how to procure illegal abortions and which advocate for the overturning of national laws on abortion are irreconcilable with the United Nations, which exists to affirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person.

It is our hope that the new Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health will result in greater transparency and accountability, will truly assist women to successfully and safely complete their pregnancies and will ensure respect for sovereign laws which protect the lives of vulnerable children in the womb.

Click here for pictures.

March 2 – 2011 - Holy See Representative Professor Jane Adolphe addresses Women’s issues at CSW saying “The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child”, she stated that “all States must enact and enforce legislation to protect girls from all forms of violence and exploitation, from conception onwards, including abortion, especially sex-selective abortion, female infanticide.” Full statement here. 

February 28, 2011 - Fr. Pavone dispatches representatives to UN Commission on the Status of Women to make the point that “the lives of women need to be valued and respected”. Priests for Life, a registered non-governmental organization (NGO) at the United Nations (UN) since 2003, is actively taking part in the fifty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) currently underway at the UN Headquarters in New York City. CSW is a yearly meeting of representatives of the 192 UN Member States who gather to discuss issues related to women’s equality and advancement. Following the session, CSW submits recommendations to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Regrettably, many have often used CSW to advance the pro-abortion agenda, especially in the areas of women’s health, equality and empowerment.

This theme of this year’s session is the “access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work”. Janet Morana, Executive Director for Priests for Life and representative to the UN, submitted a statement to CSW which highlighted the fact that “the lives of women need to be valued and respected,” particularly with respect to their ability to bear children.

The PFL statement called for the availability of education and employment for pregnant women and girls: “Woman-centered initiatives for empowerment which include abortion are unacceptable and distract from meeting the real needs of women. Our energies must focus on the daily struggles women face not only in accessing education and employment but also to ensure: access to clean water and adequate nutrition, access to life-affirming health care, the provision of skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric care, protection of children, aid to those suffering from HIV/AIDS, support for victims of violence, the rescuing of women trapped in trafficking, laws to allow women to own and inherit land, and enforcement of child support laws.”

Bob Lalonde, International Director and PFL UN representative, took part in a related CSW Holy See side event on February 24 entitled "Women's reproductive health as a gender, development and human rights issue: regaining perspective”. The event, which was presided over by Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the UN, was standing-room only. The session was moderated by the Deputy Permanent Representative of St. Lucia to the UN, Sarah Flood- Beaubrun, and included an expert panel that addressed issues of women’s health from pro-woman pro-life perspective.

Additionally, PFL UN representative Marie Smith, Founder and Director of the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues, a global outreach of Gospel of Life Ministries/Priests for Life, was selected to participate in an official CSW event on maternal mortality —Interactive Panel 5, “Elimination of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and the empowerment of women.” This event takes place on March 1 from 3:00pm to 6:00pm. CSW session runs through March 4th.

February 16, 2011 - Fr. Frank Pavone dispatched PFL’s UN Delegate Bob Lalonde to participate, as an observer, to the forty-ninth session of the Commission for Social Development taking place at the United Nations in New York February 9 to 18 and help defend the rights of the unborn, “the poorest of the poor”. PFL strongly supports the statement made by Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations “that “the deepest needs of the human person” go far beyond food, water and shelter. Authentic social development hinges on respect for the dignity of each human person.” The Holy See’s delegate to the conference added “The Holy See delegate cited “the procreative and educational mission of parents” and the consequent psychological and spiritual benefits enjoyed by children who grow up in a healthy family. “The institution of the family, which is a sine qua non for preparing the future generation, is being challenged by many factors in the modern world and the family needs to be defended and safeguarded.” The Holy See’s full statement can be found on its website.

The Commission on Social Development is a subsidiary body of the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) which meets on an annual basis. The priority theme for thus year’s 49th Session of the Commission on Social Development (CSocD) is poverty eradication. The Commission reports that “since the World Summit for Social Development, in 1995, poverty eradication has become the overarching objective of development. Despite the crisis, the world is still on track to halve the proportion of the population living on less than $1.25 a day by 2015.... Close to 900 million people will still be living in extreme poverty by 2015, even if the global target is reached.” More information on the Commission and the conference can be found on its website.

November 11, 2010 - Janet Morana, Executive Director, Priests for Life registered a written statement with the fifty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women to be held February 22 to March 4 2011 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The statement is below:

We would like to thank the Commission on the Status of Women for focusing on the critical areas which impact women’s lives around the world and recognize that advancements in the basic areas of education, job training and access to technology are ways to improve the impoverished lives of women. Employment helps women to improve their lives and rise from poverty. The astounding success of micro-credit loans across the developing world amply illustrates the benefits of giving women the chance to use their skills and economic empowerment results from access to vocational training and job opportunities.

A woman who has a source of income is able to put food on the table, educate her children and afford health care. She receives respect from others in the community who look to her for leadership resulting in political involvement and opportunities to help others in her community and beyond. It is the currently accepted wisdom across the spectrum of ideologies that when women and girls have access to education, it is not only their lives that improve, but the lives of their children and community. Education needs to be available to all girls and women to reduce the unacceptably high female illiteracy rate. Education not only empowers women with reading, writing skills and math skills but results in self-confidence and empowerment which helps women assume leadership roles in their communities. Education provides the most effective path out of poverty.

Women who receive educational opportunities are healthier and their children are healthier. Educated women have healthier pregnancies and safer deliveries resulting in healthier newborns and in reductions in both maternal and child mortality. Educated women are able to make better decisions for themselves and their children. The areas of education and employment are critical to improving lives and programs in these areas must provide for the unique child-bearing capacity of women. Pregnant girls must be allowed to receive an education and pregnant women must not be threatened with job loss. Women must be allowed to fulfill their innate capacity to bear children without penalty.

Abortion is not an acceptable solution to meeting the educational and employment needs of women. The destruction of a woman’s child through the violence of the abortion act does not result in true empowerment. Rather, any so-called “reproductive freedom” gained through abortion only anesthetizes and deadens the nurturing souls of women, forcing them to accept oppression of their procreative lives. Abortion does little to affirm the dignity of women – instead it separates their sexuality from the intrinsic act of procreation and reduces them to mere machines to satisfy male pleasure, with no connection to the emotional and spiritual forces that are intrinsic to women’s identity.

Abortion can be emotionally crippling. Increasingly, women who suffer the repercussions of abortion often describe it as violent and brutal. There is grief, sadness, shame and anger. They resort to self-destructive behaviors and numb themselves with alcohol and drugs. Some re-enact their trauma through promiscuity and repeat abortions, trapped in a cycle of abandonment, rejection, a sense of helplessness, and abuse. The Alan Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, recently revealed that 50 percent of all women who have an abortion will go on to have another. Others attempt to repress their feelings through eating disorders, depression, anxiety and attempted suicide.

True women’s rights and freedom will never exist until women’s reproductive capacity is valued and their children are cherished by society and the men who father them. Violence against women will never end until society recognizes the benefits of fashioning life, instead of insisting upon its necessary destruction. Health care in any form, including maternal health or reproductive health, that includes access to abortion is not really health care at all. Abortion ends the life of one patient and may injure the other physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

The dualistic rhetoric of abortion rights splits mind from body, sexuality from procreation, pleasure from loving passion, and mother from child. Health care that includes abortion threatens women and their children with violence and abandonment. Abortion on demand has created a mindset that killing is the solution to unwanted responsibility – not just for the baby, but for the woman who won’t exercise her “freedom of choice”. Men who refuse to accept their responsibility are enabled by abortion to abandon women and treat them with disrespect and contempt often leading to acts of violence and abuse.

Gender violence plagues the lives of women around the world as far too many women suffer abuse and violence on a daily basis. Cultural practices which de-value the life of the girl-child and deny her an education must be stopped. Employment practices which discriminate against women must end. Initiatives which seek to deny or destroy the inherent procreative ability of women do not advance or empower women. Rather, programs which include access to abortion treat women’s unique capabilities as a problem rather than recognizing the universally valued role of women as the bearers of a country’s future, its children.

Woman-centered initiatives for empowerment which include abortion are unacceptable and distract from meeting the real needs of women. Our energies must focus on the daily struggles women face not only in accessing education and employment but also to ensure: access to clean water and adequate nutrition, access to life-affirming health care, the provision of skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric care, protection of children, aid to those suffering from HIV/AIDS, support for victims of violence, the rescuing of women trapped in trafficking, laws to allow women to own and inherit land, and enforcement of child support laws.

Progress in these areas would do infinitely more for women than insisting on universal access to abortion. The lives of women need to be valued and respected. Women should not have to deny their feminine nature, be made to feel second class to men, or be penalized for their unique procreative capacity. Women should be affirmed for their female nature; their lives should be respected throughout the life cycle and they should be assisted in the critical role of mother. Education and employment should be available to women and girls while affirming and providing for—and not penalizing—their unique role and capacity.

October 20, 2010 – Reception for Archbishop Francis Chullikatt Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations, was hosted by Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) and Focus on the Family and Fr. Frank Pavone sent Bob Lalonde, Priests for Life UN Delegate to represent Priests for Life. Archbishop Chullikatt was appointed by the Holy Father on July 17 and arrived in New York in September. C-FAM commented “The prolife community is so pleased Archbishop Chullikatt has been chosen by Pope Benedict XVI to head Holy See diplomatic efforts at the United Nations. Archbishop Chullikatt comes to us from Iraq where for many years he served heroically as Apostolic Nuncio to that war torn country”.

September 28, 2010 - Cardinal Renato Martino, former Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations (1986 to 2002) and President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace paid a visit to Fr. Frank Pavone and the pastoral team at PFL’s Headquarters. To read more about his important visit please see On The Frontlines.

May 19, 2010 - Fr. Frank Pavone sent PFL UN Delegate Bob Lalonde as an observer to the UN’s Sixty-third session of the World Health Assembly in Geneva. At this session, the Health Assembly discussed a number of public health issues, including monitoring of the achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals. Bob also met with Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Apostolic Nuncio to the UN in Geneva.

March 8, 2010 - Dr. Alveda King addressed the United Nations on the topic of Motherhood on the occasion of International Woman's Day. Dr King spoke to a full assembly and said “No matter what great accomplishments women achieve, there simply is no more important role for us than motherhood—loving, nurturing, and raising the next generation. To ensure a brighter tomorrow, we must affirm and support motherhood in whatever policies or programs we devise.” For Dr. King’s complete statement and pictures of the event please see On The Frontlines.

September 2, 2009 - Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations received PFL Associate Director Fr. Denis Wilde, OSA, and Special Advisor to the Director, Bob Lalonde at the Mission in mid-town Manhattan. The three met for an hour to explore channels of collaboration between Priests for Life and the Holy See's chief executive to the international body in matters relating to the dignity and defense of human life. See a picture of the meeting at On The Frontlines.

June 9, 2009 - Priests for Life Participates in Successful gathering of over 400 at the Vatican sponsored UN Path to Peace Foundation –

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and President of the Path to Peace Foundation presided over the gathering of over 400 world leaders at its 17th Path to Peace Award. Cardinal Renato R. Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and former head of the Path to Peace Foundation was also in attendance. A posthumous award was given to Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho from Iraq who was kidnapped in Mosul and later killed. Fox commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano also received the Servitor Pacis Award and made remarks about the importance of defending sacred life in the womb.

Bob Lalonde and Michele Velasco, who assist Fr. Pavone in directing the international growth of Priests for Life, were present at the event. Click here for photos

March 2009 - Status of Woman (CSW) The Obama administration was pushing its “sexual and reproductive health” agenda at the United Nation’s Annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) March 2- 13 in New York. (See C-FAM’s article.) As usual, C-FAM and its allies played an important role educating participants on the sanctity of life in the deliberations. PFL was present for some of the deliberations and helped sponsor lunches for the courageous army of 50 students from Ave Maria Law School, St. Thomas Moore Law School, Christendom College and Overbrook Academy.

February 2008 - Status of Woman (CSW) –While Priests for Life works within the United Nations, our ministries raise awareness about abortion’s negative impact outside UN meetings. During the United Nations’ February 2008 Commission on the Status of Women Conference, "Financing For Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women", our Silent No More Awareness Campaign held an event near UN headquarters. Many women held signs “I regret my abortion” for UN delegates to witness and spoke publicly about the emotional and physical pain inflicted by abortion.

Important Statements from the UN Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Committee

Typically referred to as the Third Committee, the Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Committee has been meeting throughout October 2008 at the UN in New York. PFL was there to support C-FAM and other international pro life groups such as SPUC (Society for the Protection of the Unborn) actively participating and reporting on all the events.

Read C-FAM’s report and the two important life affirming statements from the ambassadors of Malta and Fiji.

LEARN MORE

To learn more about the role of NGOs, visit the official website for the United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs - NGO Section. Also available is a calendar of meetings and events.

The Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See To the United Nations website offers background on the Holy See’s involvement at the UN, statements from the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, position papers, and magisterial texts on the Catholic Church’s social agenda.

Additionally, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) is an organization dedicated to the research and dissemination of information related to United Nations activities and publications to the broader society, including the media. Read about their activities, and receive their weekly update.

Click here to read Fr. Frank’s column on The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948-2008 marking the occasion of its 60th anniversary.

Also read the Press Release: The United Nations Grants Priests for Life NGO Status