Statement by
His Excellency Silvano M. Tomasi
Permanent
Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and Specialized Agencies in Geneva
at the 18th
Session of the Human Rights Council - Item 3 -
“Practices
in adopting a human rights-based approach to eliminate preventable maternal
mortality and human rights”
September 15, 2011
Madam President,
The delegation of the Holy See has reviewed with
careful attention the Report on “Practices
in adopting a human rights-based approach to eliminate preventable maternal
mortality and human rights,”[1]
the 2010 Resolution 15/17 of the Human Rights Council on “Preventable maternal mortality and morbidity
and human rights: follow-up to Council resolution 11/8” as well as the
Resolution 11/8 [2].
The latter resolution expressed “grave concern at the unacceptably high global rate of preventable maternal
mortality and morbidity”, recognized this phenomenon as a “health, development
and human rights challenge,” and encouraged States
and other relevant stakeholders, including national human rights institutions
and non-governmental organizations, to give “increased attention and resources
to preventable maternal mortality and morbidity” in the context of the engagement to protect human rights.
Despite
such strongly articulated commitments, however, the international community
must recognize, with deep regret, that it has made insufficient progress in
preventing some 350,000 deaths that occur annually during pregnancy and
childbirth. Thus my Delegation believes it necessary to affirm, once again,
that “every woman is equal in dignity to man, and a full member of the human
family, within which she has a distinctive place and vocation that is
complementary to but in no way less valuable than man’s”.[3]
My
Delegation is pleased to note three of the “common features of good and
effective practices to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity” to which
attention was called by the report being discussed today: 1) Broad social and legal changes to
enhance women’s status by promoting equality between men and women, elimination
of early age marriage and the consequent promotion of delay in onset of sexual
activities, improvement of social, economic, health, and nutritional status of
women and girls, and elimination of such
harmful practices as female genital mutilation and domestic violence; 2)
Strengthening health systems and primary health care to improve access to, and
use of, skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric care for
complications; and 3) Improving monitoring and evaluation of State obligations
to ensure the accountability of all actors and to implement policies.
The
Catholic Church maintains an extensive network of health services in all parts
of the world and, in particular, offers outreach to poor and rural communities that
often are excluded from access to government-sponsored services. Some Catholic
organizations have developed specialized services for fistula repair, provide
holistic treatment and societal re-integration of the victims of domestic
violence, and promote integral development and education of women and girls.
Moreover, Catholic organizations are active in advocacy, on global, regional,
national, and local levels, for policies and practices that protect the rights
of women and girls. Thus my Delegation wishes to assure you, Madam President,
of its strong support for the above-mentioned elements of good practice.
With regard
to two other elements proposed by the report as so-called “features of good
practice” to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality – that is “increasing
access to contraception and family planning” and addressing so-called “unsafe
abortion for women”, the Holy See wishes to express its strong disagreement. My
delegation believes that “… particular attention should be given to securing for
husband and wife the liberty to decide
responsibly, free from all social or legal coercion, the number of
children they will have and the spacing of their births. It should be the
intent of governments or other agencies to decide for couples but, rather, to
create the social conditions which will enable them to make appropriate
decisions in the light of their responsibilities to God, to themselves, and to
the society of which they are part, and to the objective moral order.”[4] 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.
Madam
President, the above-cited concerns are substantiated by evidence-based data.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has demonstrated that women in Africa die primarily from five major causes: hypertensive
diseases, obstructed labour, haemorrhage, sepsis and infection, and HIV-related
diseases.[5] The
interventions known to address such medical crises include training and
employment of skilled birth attendants, provision of antibiotics and uterotonic
medications, and improvement of blood banking. My Delegation finds totally
unacceptable any attempts to divert much-needed financial resources from these
effective and life-saving interventions to increased programmes of
contraception and abortion, which aim at limiting procreation of new life or at
destroying the life of a child.
In
conclusion, 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.”[6]
[2] Human Rights Council, 15th Session, Resolution
15/17. Preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights: follow-up
to resolution 11/8, 7 October 2010;
11th Session, Resolution 11/8, June 2009.
[3] Letter of His Holiness John Paul
II to the Secretary General of the International Conference on Population and
Development, from the Vatican
[4] Letter of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II to the Secretary
General of the International Conference on Population and Development, op.cit., paragraph, 3.
[5] Khalid S. Khan et al., “WHO Analysis of Causes of
Maternal Deaths: A Systematic Review,” Lancet,
367 (2006): 1066-1074.
[6] Pope Benedict XVI, Address at Meeting
with Catholic Movements for the Promotion of Women, Parish of St. Anthony, in Luanda , Angola
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