Ireland ignores human rights “of all people” by rejecting abortion?
However, Ireland still does not fully respect the human rights of all people on its own territory and has yet to fully accept, let alone to implement, some of the core UN human rights instruments.
~ Mark Kelly, Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, condemning the Irish government for once again rejecting UN pressure to legalize abortion, as quoted by InsideIreland.ie, March 15
Mar.17, 2012 7:47 am |
Political anti-life bias |
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Since when abortion is a “human right”? Like a right to life, a right to not be discriminated, a right to fair trial and a right to get rid of your own offspring??? Makes no sense!
Uh, no. Ireland is extending human rights to all people by rejecting abortion. Honestly, there’s not much else to say to this guy. Aside from to tell him he’s an idiot.
Hey UN, why don’t you respect a Ireland’s national autonomy.
Keep up the fight Ireland!
Leave it to the UN, moonbat brain trust of the world. Let’s force abortion on one of the few nations that has stood strong-everyone must be brought into the fold. It’s all about controlling people. Human rights? Laughable.
Ireland has a lower maternal mortality rate than the nations pressuring it to legalize abortion. And that was basically their response to the countries pressuring them.
And what’s even MORE hilarious is that countries like North Korea and Saudi Arabia, with actual human rights violations, are winked at. The UN is a joke. A very dangerous joke.
Yeah. When China and Iran make up the largest portion of the UN’s “Human Rights Council”, you know they’ve jumped the shark in a big way. I mean…seriously…are you freaking kidding me? That’s like making the president of NAMBLA in charge of setting guidelines for the International Nanny Association.
OMG, the above comment is awesome, x!!!
ty, ninek. ;P
“And what’s even MORE hilarious is that countries like North Korea and Saudi Arabia, with actual human rights violations, are winked at. The UN is a joke. A very dangerous joke.”
North Korea and Saudi Arabia are autocratic regimes. Ireland is a democratic country. Human rights violations in a country like Ireland should be taken much more seriously.
But seeing as Ireland doesn’t have any human rights violations to speak of, the point is moot.
Apparently they DO take them very seriously.
Abortion is an inhumane wrong, not a human right. (DUH.)
ABORTION-FREE ERIN GO BRAGH!!!!!!!!
Yeah, what humanitarian joan said. Human rights violations in autocratic regimes are to be expected and ain’t no big deal. The poor victims that live in those countries, well, I guess it’s their fault because of where they live. The people that live in democratic countries are far more important and violating their rights is so much more serious.
NOT.
@Lrning: I know, right? If Iranians and North Koreans wanted to live somewhere that respected human rights, they should have thought of that before they got themselves born there, shouldn’t they? Assuming, in North Korea, that they managed to get themselves born at all, what with that being a pro-abortion nation that engages in forced abortions and all. But that’s probably their fault, too. *eyeroll*
What’s the saying? “We’re all Irish today?” I like that more now than ever.
So North Korea, with its forced-labor camps and a government who refuses to allow citizens access to food and proper medical care, is less of a human rights priority than a democratic first-world country where people are just whining over their inability to kill their children?
Oh yeah, that makes PERFECT logical sense.
The right to kill as a human right? Sick and scary.
I think Ireland “has its cake and gets to eat it too,” to an extent, here. As I recall, women in Ireland have the right to go to England, right next door, to have abortions. I didn’t check today, but it’s come up in the last couple years and I even think there is something in the Irish Constitution backing up women’s rights, there.
“North Korea and Saudi Arabia are autocratic regimes. Ireland is a democratic country. Human rights violations in a country like Ireland should be taken much more seriously.”
Ah. So those “other” people don’t deserve even basic human rights. I mean, duh, they didn’t have the good sense to be European or North American! We should worry instead about this democratic nation where humans aren’t dying and being abused in staggering numbers. Because we don’t like their reproductive rights decisions. Makes sense. :/
The point, that you’ve all completely missed, is that there is nothing the UN or any other international body can do, short of starting a war, to change the way North Korea and Saudi Arabia operate. Ireland, and other free countries, can be persuaded through things like resolutions and sanctions from the UN or especially the EU. What’s more, countries like Ireland should be held to higher standards to begin with, and when they fail to meet those standards, yes, that is much more serious than autocratic regimes failing to do so.
“The UN is a joke. A very dangerous joke.”
I agree Kel, they should take that UN building in NYC and turn it in to condos. The place is a den of spies too..
Saudi Arabia is a part of the UN, Joan. They even appointed Saudi Arabia to their women’s rights agency. Ha.
Where did I indicate that Saudi Arabia is not part of the UN?
I didn’t say you did. But you seem to think that the UN should sanction Ireland, but give Saudi Arabia a pass for human right’s abuses. I can see your point with North Korea, seeing as I don’t think the UN can do much about them. But to claim that pressuring Ireland is all good, while ignoring another member state that is doing much, much worse than denying abortion to women, seems a bit ridiculous.
They are claiming that Ireland is violating the core tenants of human rights by denying abortion, and putting them under pressure. But they ignore horrendous abuses going on in other member countries? I mean, I don’t think abortion should be legal at all, but even if I did… I think that I would still be more concerned about what Saudi Arabia is doing rather than Ireland.
The UN can’t do much about any state that doesn’t voluntarily abide by its resolutions and sanctions. That’s just how international law works. And given Ireland’s membership in the EU, that would be the more appropriate venue for pressuring it to respect womens’ rights anyway.
Sure, if they think that criminalizing abortion is a human rights violation, the UN is a good channel to try to change Ireland’s stance. I agree. Why aren’t they doing that to Saudi Arabia? Or, you know, the other nations who are big on the whole violating rights thing?
Again: international law is largely voluntary. (Although the EU has considerably more power over its member states than the UN does.) The enforcement mechanism for international law is persuading heads of state, or the citizens and legislators of states, that it’s a good idea for them to abide by it. This does not work with autocratic regimes, because by definition, an autocratic government has no checks on its authority and doesn’t care what its subjects think about anything.
Hey, why not pressure China into stopping the whole forced abortions thing? Could it possibly be because China is an economic superpower that the UN is currently depending upon to maintain itself and Ireland is not? I guess the real question of whose rights are worth fighting for–regardless of what you believe those rights to be–is how much money you might loose doing it. At least for the UN.
Joan: “North Korea and Saudi Arabia are autocratic regimes. Ireland is a democratic country. Human rights violations in a country like Ireland should be taken much more seriously.”
Great.
So go find said violations, and then we’ll talk.
It can’t be emphasized enough, Ireland does not have any human rights violations, so there’s no need to pressure or sanction or anything.
“North Korea and Saudi Arabia are autocratic regimes. Ireland is a democratic country. Human rights violations in a country like Ireland should be taken much more seriously.”
Umm… no. In a democratic country, the people themselves have the power to vote their leadership in or out and speak for themselves on issues they see as “human rights violations.” Under autocratic regimes, people are powerless to defend themselves against the policies of their leadership. So, if abortion is still banned in Ireland, it can be assumed that the majority of the people there WANT it that way. In North Korea, it doesn’t matter what the people want. There, human rights violations (either real or concocted in the mind of someone who demands the right to “bodily autonomy” at the cost of someone else’s life) are without recourse.
This is wonderful, but I’m surprised, quite honestly. Most Irish people I know under about 60 or so are pretty liberal. And there’s a great deal of animosity towards the Catholic Church among the same age group. That’s how it has seemed to me for a long time anyways.
And can someone explain to me why the US shouldn’t stop funding the UN? Does it serve any purpose that is in our self-interest? eg, intelligence-gathering or something of that nature? Or is it just the absolutely enormous waste of our money (or worse, the funding of all the WRONG causes) that it seems to be..?
There are many poor, rural Irish women who would not be able to afford the trip to England to abort. So how many Irish women have died from back-alley abortions? I’ll go ahead and wait for the list of all those dead women, pro-aborts.
Elise, you summed it up well. Joan has it backwards — the UN need not concern itself with a democracy’s decision as the majority of people are exercising self-determination.
Adair: There are many poor, rural Irish women who would not be able to afford the trip to England to abort.
I’d say there are at least some for who that is true. That they definitely have the right to travel doesn’t mean anybody is promising to pay their way.
Eric: the UN need not concern itself with a democracy’s decision as the majority of people are exercising self-determination.
I’d pretty much agree with that, especially when compared to some of the stuff going on in other countries. As for the Irish people themselves, attitudes are changing. In 2010 an Irish Examiner poll found that “60% of 18-35 year olds believe abortion should be legalized, and that 10% of this age group had been in a relationship where an abortion took place. The same survey also showed that 75% of women believed the morning-after pill should be an over-the-counter drug, as opposed to a prescription drug.”