Amnesty International: secret abortion policy?

Update 29/5/07: reactions to Amnesty's pro-abortion policy.

From SPUC: Australian members of Amnesty International have expressed their disappointment over the organisation's new pro-abortion stance. Many of AI's numerous Christian members are "lining up to resign" according to school principal Fr Chris Middleton. "As a Catholic priest and the Principal of a school with an active Amnesty group, such a change in policy places me in the unwanted position of contemplating the closing down of Amnesty's presence in the school," he said. AI currently has 500 groups in Christian schools, many of which it may lose. Church leaders in other countries have also criticised AI's new policy. Canada's Catholic bishops said: "Such a change in policy would be considered by the Catholic Bishops of Canada to be a step backwards for an organization that has done such outstanding work in defending human life and the rights of the most vulnerable. This change in policy would make it difficult for Catholics to continue supporting the work of Amnesty International". Their statement
follows a similar response from the Catholic bishops of England and Wales.

Update 05/05/07: Amnesty International has admitted to changing its policy on abortion and will begin lobbying globally in favour of abortion. The new policy will involve campaigning for the decriminalisation of abortion and promoting abortion in cases such as rape. A senior policy director denied that the policy change had been kept secret, even though it was kept on a members-only webpage with instructions that the change was not to be made public. [LifeSiteNews, 11 May]

Comment: This is, sadly, the end of the line for Catholic members of Amnesty International, an organisation founded by a Catholic which, whatever criticisms one may make, has done much great work over many decades. The adoption of this policy, in secrecy and in the teeth of opposition from members and other interested parties, indicates that it has been taken over by people with a completely different agenda from the one it was founded to advance. The pattern is very similar with the UN and the EU (see our reports passim), but unlike those organisations, Catholics can resign from AI, and should do so.

Briefing

From SPUC: It is asserted that Amnesty International has secretly changed its policy on abortion from neutrality to one which regards the procedure as a right. Mr Ryan Anderson of First Things is reported as saying that Amnesty's restricted-access website contains pro-abortion policy and that text on the same site forbids publication for the time being. [LifeSite, 3 May]