The Right to Kill?

On 10 December, Human Rights Day, the Secretary-General launched a year-long campaign in which all parts of the United Nations family are taking part in the lead up to the sixtieth birthday of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on Human Rights Day 2008.

This landmark historic document was adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 1948 by a vote of forty-eight in favour, zero against, with eight abstentions (all Soviet Bloc states, South Africa and Saudi Arabia) and has been translated into three hundred thirty-seven different languages. The Guinness Book of Records describes the UDHR as the "Most Translated Document" in the world. The need for the Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. It is a deceptively simple document consisting of thirty articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national and religious constitutions, laws, and addresses. Recently I read and reviewed it here on Goodreads.

However, as with most things, the Declaration is involved in an ongoing struggle. From the anniversary website we read:

The UDHR protects all of us, and it also enshrines the gamut of human rights. The drafters of the UDHR saw a future of freedom from fear, but also of freedom from want. They put all human rights on an equal footing and confirmed human rights are essential to a life of dignity.

The UDHR drafters’ vision has inspired many human rights defenders who have struggled over the last six decades to make that vision a reality. The contemporary international human rights edifice that originates in the UDHR is to be celebrated. But it has yet to benefit all of humanity equally.

The struggle is far from over. As the Declaration’s custodians and beneficiaries, all of us must reclaim the UDHR, make it our own. While we are entitled to our human rights, we should also respect the human rights of others and help make universal human rights a reality for all of us. In our efforts lies the power of the UHDR: it is a living document that will continue to inspire generations to come.

In April of this year, Pope Benedict XVI, visited the United Nations General Assembly and delivered a twenty minute address urging the organization to realize its mission. Benedict paid tribute to UN staff and those who died on missions. He also stressed that human rights must include the right to religious freedom which is not limited to the exercise of worship, but allows believers to play a role in society. The Pontiff went on to say that the United Nation's role and responsibility was increasingly becoming one of protection: 'Indeed this is coming to be recognized as the moral basis for a government's claim to authority.'

A week from today we will celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Will it be a cause for celebration? Did the General Assembly -- or anyone -- listen to what the Holy Father said last April?

Next week on December tenth, radical pro-abortion groups will present petitions asking the UN General Assembly to make abortion a universally recognized human right, thereby destroying the most fundamental right, the Right to Life.

It has always been understood, from time immemorial, that the strong have the responsibility to protect the weak, but never before have so many of the vulnerable and voiceless ones of the world depended so much on the strong. Speak out! Let the United Nations and the world know that while we hold human rights sacred, the killing of unborn human beings is the most heinous crime imaginable and would undermine and destroy the credibility, integrity, and very purpose of the Declaration.

It still isn't too late! Sign the petition for International Call for the Rights and Dignity of the Human Person and the Family.

Our petition requests proper consideration must be given to:

1. The right to life of every human being, from conception to natural death, each child having the right to be conceived, born and educated within the family, based on marriage between a woman and a man, the family being the natural and fundamental group unit of society,

2. The right of every child to be educated by his or her parents, who have a prior and fundamental right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Thank you and God bless!


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