EAST ANGLIA, England, AUG. 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Bishop Michael Evans of East Anglia announced that he has joined other Catholics in withdrawing his membership of Amnesty International, due to their new policy in support of abortion.
In a statement published on the Diocese of East Anglia's Web site, Bishop Evans cited an Amnesty International press release issued Friday, at the conclusion of the group's meeting in Mexico.
The press release stated: "Amnesty International […] affirmed the organization's policy on selected aspects of abortion -- to support the decriminalization of abortion, to ensure women have access to health care when complications arise from abortion, and to defend women's access to abortion, within reasonable gestational limits, when their health or human rights are in danger …"
Bishop Evans said that "it is much to be regretted that delegates failed to challenge the decision."
"The Catholic Church," he explained, "has no desire for women who have been through the trauma of abortion to be punished; they need compassion and healing. Women who suffer complications after an abortion should obviously receive quality care.
"But our proper indignation regarding pervasive violence against women should not cloud our judgment about our duty to protect the most vulnerable and defenseless form of human life."
Bishop Evans recalled the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, which says that the child "needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth."
"This must surely be part of the body of international human rights law to which Amnesty International is committed," the 56-year-old prelate wrote.
Circumstances
Bishop Evans continued: "The Catholic Church shares Amnesty’s strong commitment to oppose violence against women […] but such appalling violence must not be answered by violence against the most vulnerable and defenseless form of human life in a woman’s womb.
"But there is no human right to access to abortion, and Amnesty should not involve itself even in such extreme cases. Amnesty opposes torture and the death penalty under all circumstances, however dire the situation; the same should be true for Amnesty’s mandate to ‘Protect the Human’ -- before as well as after birth.
"To allow for the use of torture in just one extreme situation -- e.g. a terrorist threat -- would compromise Amnesty’s absolute rejection of torture. To support access to abortion even in dire situations compromises Amnesty’s mandate to ‘Protect the Human.’"
Withdrawing support
Though Bishop Evans recognized that Amnesty International may eventually "seek to develop this policy further," he said that "even this current limited decision makes it very difficult for Catholics to remain members of Amnesty or to give it any financial support."
"Very regretfully," the British prelate said, "I will be ending my 31-year membership of Amnesty International."
He continued: "Amnesty International has played an enormously important role in the world since its foundation by Peter Benenson, a Catholic, in 1961. It has much important work to do in the future.
"This regrettable decision will almost certainly divide Amnesty’s membership and thereby undermine its vital work."
ZE07081905 - 2007-08-19