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Human Rights Closer to Home
21 March 2005
This week, two issues brought basic human rights back to the fore in the US and Europe.
In the US, President Bush returned from his Easter holiday to sign legislation which requires the re-insertion of a feeding tube which has been keeping Terri Schiavo alive.
After signing the bill, Mr. Bush said, 'In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life.'
Meanwhile, a fresh debate is brewing across the Atlantic with reference to abortion.
The leaders of Britain's Anglican and Catholic communities have declared that the UK needs to re-evaluate its legal limit on abortions.
At present, abortions can take place up to week 24 of pregnancy, a limit which some of Britain's leading politicians are now saying should be dropped to 20 weeks or less.
Many members of Britain's mainstream and evangelical churches want to see abortion outlawed altogether, except perhaps when the health of the mother is at risk.
Recent developments in ultra-sound technology have revealed graphic pictures showing 24-week old babies as real human beings.
In Britain alone, more than 180,000 abortions are performed every year.
In his weekly editorial on this site, Mal Fletcher says, 'The Schiavo issue and that of abortion may seem unrelated, but they are not.'
'Both demonstrate the importance of a right understanding when it comes to what are our basic human rights and where they came from in the first place.'
'If God gave us our rights, abortion and euthanasia are spiritual issues. They require an objectivity and long-sightedness which the post-modern worship of opinion polls cannot provide.'
The debate on both issues is sure to continue.
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