Written declaration No. 488 | Doc. 12684 | 07 July 2011

Natural Human Rights

Signatories: Mr Luca VOLONTÈ, Italy, EPP/CD ; Ms Rossana BOLDI, Italy, EDG ; Mr Roberto Mario Sergio COMMERCIO, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Gianpaolo DOZZO, Italy, EDG ; Mr Giuseppe GALATI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Marco GATTI, San Marino, EPP/CD ; Mr Ferenc KALMÁR, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr László KOSZORÚS, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Edgar MAYER, Austria, EPP/CD ; Mr Pasquale NESSA, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Fritz NEUGEBAUER, Austria, EPP/CD ; Ms Elsa PAPADIMITRIOU, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Giacomo SANTINI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Giuseppe SARO, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Giacomo STUCCHI, Italy, EDG ; Ms Melinda SZÉKYNÉ SZTRÉMI, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Oreste TOFANI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Imre VEJKEY, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Luigi VITALI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Marco ZACCHERA, Italy, EDG

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

A new human life begins at conception and evolves until death. From conception each unborn child is by nature a human being, entitled to recognition of his inherent dignity and to protection of his inalienable human rights. These principles are recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international instruments. States may and should invoke treaty provisions guaranteeing the rights to life as encompassing a state responsibility to protect the unborn child from abortion.

The international law does not recognise any right to abortion. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and other treaty monitoring bodies have directed governments to change their laws on abortion. These bodies have no authority to interpret these treaties in ways that create new state obligations or that alter the substance of the treaties.

Since there is no international legal obligation to provide access to abortion on any ground, assertions by international agencies or non-governmental actors that abortion is a human right are false and should be rejected.

Governments and members of society should guarantee that national laws and policies protect the right to life from conception, rejecting and condemning pressure to adopt laws that legalise or depenalise abortion.