ADF President signs San Jose Articles affirming human life
Document calls for nations to ensure laws and policies protect human life
Friday, Oct 7, 2011
WASHINGTON — Alliance Defense Fund President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears has joined with more than 30 religious and government leaders to sign the San Jose Articles calling on governments to resist efforts by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other treaty-monitoring bodies to force governments to establish an international right to abortion. ADF is recognized as a non-governmental organization (NGO) by the United Nations.
“No one should be allowed to decide that a human life is worthless,” said Sears. “Every innocent life deserves to be protected. That’s why leaders from across the theological spectrum have come together to sign the San Jose Articles, so that governments will recognize and affirm that all human life should be protected from conception until death.”
The articles state, in part: “There exists no right to abortion under international law; either by way of treaty obligation or under customary international law. No United Nations treaty can accurately be cited as establishing or recognizing a right to abortion. CEDAW and other treaty monitoring bodies have directed governments to change their laws on abortion …Assertions by international agencies or non-governmental actors that abortion is a human right are false and should be rejected. There is no international legal obligation to provide access to abortion based on any ground, including but not limited to health, privacy, or sexual autonomy, or non-discrimination.”
The articles conclude: “Governments and members of society should ensure that national laws and policies protect the human right to life from conception. They should also reject and condemn pressure to adopt laws that legalize or de-penalize abortion.”
“For decades, radical abortion advocates have tried to force an ‘international right to abortion’ on governments throughout the world,” said Sears. “It’s our hope that these articles will empower these governments to stand up to these demands and protect all human life.”
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organisations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
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WASHINGTON — Alliance Defense Fund President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears has joined with more than 30 religious and government leaders to sign the San Jose Articles calling on governments to resist efforts by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other treaty-monitoring bodies to force governments to establish an international right to abortion. ADF is recognized as a non-governmental organization (NGO) by the United Nations.
“No one should be allowed to decide that a human life is worthless,” said Sears. “Every innocent life deserves to be protected. That’s why leaders from across the theological spectrum have come together to sign the San Jose Articles, so that governments will recognize and affirm that all human life should be protected from conception until death.”
The articles state, in part: “There exists no right to abortion under international law; either by way of treaty obligation or under customary international law. No United Nations treaty can accurately be cited as establishing or recognizing a right to abortion. CEDAW and other treaty monitoring bodies have directed governments to change their laws on abortion …Assertions by international agencies or non-governmental actors that abortion is a human right are false and should be rejected. There is no international legal obligation to provide access to abortion based on any ground, including but not limited to health, privacy, or sexual autonomy, or non-discrimination.”
The articles conclude: “Governments and members of society should ensure that national laws and policies protect the human right to life from conception. They should also reject and condemn pressure to adopt laws that legalize or de-penalize abortion.”
“For decades, radical abortion advocates have tried to force an ‘international right to abortion’ on governments throughout the world,” said Sears. “It’s our hope that these articles will empower these governments to stand up to these demands and protect all human life.”
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organisations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
ABOUT Alan Sears
Alan Sears was the first president, CEO, and general counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom, leading its efforts from 1993-2017. Across those nearly 25 years, he built an ADF team committed to a comprehensive legal strategy that includes training, funding, and legal advocacy. Sears earned his Juris Doctor from Louis D. Brandeis School of Law. While serving in numerous positions within the Reagan and Bush administrations, he worked for the Department of Justice under Attorneys General William French Smith and Edwin Meese III, including service as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Criminal Section. Sears was appointed as director of the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography and served as associate solicitor with the Department of Interior under Secretary Donald Hodel. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Sears has continued his education with professional instruction at Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School, and Pepperdine University. He is a member in good standing with the American, Arizona, California, District of Columbia (inactive), and Kentucky bar associations.