Vatican envoy tells OAS: legal abortion undermines basis for anti-drug efforts
June 13, 2013
The Vatican’s representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) has observed that efforts to legalize abortion undermine the moral basis for a drive to eliminate drug trafficking in Latin America. “Efforts to protect lives from illicit drugs, while at the same time attacking innocent human life at its most vulnerable stage represents a gross contradiction undermining the inalienable dignity of every human being,” said Archbishop Francis Chullikatt.
Archbishop Chullikatt—who doubles as the Vatican’s permanent observer at the OAS, as well as at UN headquarters in New York—strongly endorsed measures to eliminate the drug traffic. But he rejected a recommendation endorsing the “legal interruption of pregnancy,” noting that it contradicts the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights, which affirms the right to life.
Archbishop Chullikatt also objected to resolutions that would put the OAS on record in opposition to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. He said that the enforcement of fundamental human rights for all would obviate the need for such resolutions.
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