Holy See: Aborting the Disabled is denial of right to life

(December 5, 2008) The United Nations International Day of Persons With Disabilities focused attention on a convention that aims to stop prejudice against the handicapped, but the Holy see says the agreement is fundamentally flawed. The annual observance, celebrated on Wednesday, had the theme: "Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities: Dignity and Justice for All of Us." The convention has been signed by 136 member states, but the Holy See is not one of them and will not be if the wording is not changed. This is because in various propositions, the convention leaves the door open to aborting the handicapped because of their disabilities. Though the Holy See contributed to the preparation of the text, its request to include an explicit rejection of the aborting of the disabled was not accepted. Franco Previte, the president of the Italian association Christians for Service, applauded the Holy See's refusal to sign the convention. He said that aborting, sterilizing and euthanizing of disabled, especially psychologically disabled persons, in order to halt the diffusion of genetic disabilities is the denial of the right to life, a fundamental right for humanity.