Bishops of Peru call on lawmakers to defend life in every situation

Lima, Peru, Oct 19, 2009 / 15:38 pm

In a statement released last Friday, as Peru's Congress debated a new law that would legalize abortion in some cases, the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference called on lawmakers to always defend life. The prelates also reminded them that the defense of the unborn “should not allow for any exceptions or doubts of any kind.”

In their statement, the bishops underscored that “the Universal Declaration of Human Rights decidedly opts for the defense of life. Our current constitution also recognizes and protects human life from its beginning: conception.”

They went on to note that there should not be any room for exceptions or doubts when protecting the unborn. “From conception, life begins to develop and should not be interrupted for any reason. The value of life and its defense from the moment of conception cannot be altered without causing very serious harm to the most genuine commitment to the human being and his rights.”

“Thus we affirm that there is no situation or human difficulty that authorizes the killing of an innocent child. If the unborn are denied their right to life,” the bishops continued, “we fall into the very serious risk of losing the coherence that our legal order must have.”

The bishops called on all Peruvians to unite in defense of human life without political or religious calculations. We must demand that no cruel and evil laws be passed that authorize the elimination of the most defenseless of beings.”

They also warned against manipulating the feelings of people, especially women, by exaggerating difficult cases in order to justify the crime of abortion, “which is the killing of a defenseless, innocent person.”

The bishops then called on doctors to be faithful to the Hippocratic oath to defend life. The lives of pregnant women and their unborn children deserve protection and care because all human beings, born or unborn, possess the same dignity and the same value.”

“We call on those who have the grave political duty to legislate on these matters and ask that out of respect for scientific truth” and in protection of a value upon which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is based, “ they might have the courage to always defend life in all circumstances, as it is a gift God has given to humanity.”