The series of pro-life legislation in various states are applauded by those who support life and condemned by those who see fetuses as nothing more than a clump of cells. However, Kate Gilmore, Deputy High Commissioner of the United Nations, went above and beyond simply condemning the abortion bans and called it “extremist hate,” “torture,” and even a “crisis directed at women.”
“We have not called it out in the same way we have other forms of extremist hate, but this is gender-based violence against women, no question. It’s clear it’s torture-it’s a deprivation of the right to health,” she said. “This is a crisis. It’s a crisis directed at women.”
Gilmore has also taken shots at conservative organizations that advance pro-life policies, saying their goals are not fact based.
“It’s an assault on truth, science, and universal values and norms. You’re entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts,” she said. “We have to stand with the evidence and facts in solidarity with women, and in particular young women and minority women who are really under the gun. This doesn’t affect well-off women in the same way as women with no resources, or able-bodied women the way it affects disabled women, and urban women the way it affects rural women.”
As one would expect, Gilmore wasn’t pleased with the Trump Administration’s efforts to remove language allowing abortion in the case of rape that was outlined on a sexual and reproductive health measure. She called the move by President Trump “deeply distressing.”
Gilmore has served in the role of deputy high commissioner since 2015. Her role is to analyze how countries implement or handle human-rights. She has “independently declared the absolute prohibition of abortion…against human rights.”
Ohio, North Dakota, Missouri, Louisiana, Kentucky, Iowa, Georgia, and Mississippi have all recently passed stricter abortion bans. Alabama also passed a ban on abortions for almost any situation in any stage of pregnancy except when the mother’s life is at risk. This makes Alabama’s ban the most restrictive in the country.
Many pro-life advocates are hoping that the recent laws will prompt those on the left to challenge the laws and eventually lead to the Supreme Court. Once there, pro-lifers hope that the 1973 case of Roe v. Wade will finally be overthrown thanks to the recently acquired conservative majority.
The United Nations is rooted in controversy when it comes to abortion. As recently as March, the chairwoman of the UN commission forced a measure that in essence promotes abortion as an absolute good. This was decided despite opposition from many of the countries represented.
It is hard to imagine how the banning of a practice the rips an unborn baby from their mother’s womb in pieces could itself be considered torture. After all, as it relates to the experience of the baby, it is most assuredly horrid beyond imagination. Many studies have shown that babies can feel pain as they are ripped apart and disposed of like last week’s trash. It is this act which is extremist and torturous.
Yes, a woman should never have to do anything with her body she doesn’t want to. However, when a baby is inside of her, that body becomes home to another human being, with its own heartbeat and neural activity. This means abortion is killing a living being, in many cases for the sake of convenience or preference. This, not abortion ban, is true extremist behavior.
~ Liberty Planet
