Peruvian bishops: Abortion is an injustice, not a right

Lima, Peru, Feb 25, 2011 / 13:54 pm

The Peruvian bishops' defense of life committee recently released a statement explaining that any law permitting abortion is an injustice, not a right.

The bishops' message was released to mark the Day of the Unborn Child on March 25.

Only “ignorant minds opposed to the truth” could fail to recognize the human nature of the unborn as confirmed by science and the law, the statement continued.

The committee rejected the idea that the life of an unborn child is not as important as the mother’s just because the child does not yet “occupy a place in the world.”

The unborn are part “of the reality in which we live,” the committee said, and therefore they must be taken into account when decisions are made – including political ones.  Human rights begin at the moment of conception, and therefore the unborn must never become mere scientific studies, the bishops added.

“Any law that allows abortion – even only in ‘limited cases’ – is an injustice and not a law. A law that leaves human life unprotected is questionable in and of itself,” they said.

The bishops urged that the Day of the Unborn Child, which coincides with the Feast of the Annunciation, be an occasion to celebrate human life as a “wondrous gift from God” entrusted to the care of a woman.