74 House members pressure Amnesty International to reject abortion proposal

Seventy-four House members in a letter recently sent to Amnesty International USA Executive Director Larry Cox call on the group to reject a proposal that would support access to abortion in cases of rape, incest, sexual assault or to save the life of the woman, the AP/Los Angeles Times reports (Abrams, AP/Los Angeles Times, 11/20).

The proposal arose from the group's program to curb violence against women. The group has said issues such as forced marriage of young girls and illegal abortions also are being discussed (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 7/26).

The letter asks Amnesty "at a minimum" to "remain neutral on the issue of abortion," according to a release from Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus (Smith release, 11/20).

"To in any way condone or support abortion, which many of your supporters believe is actually a human rights abuse, would significantly undermine Amnesty's reputation and effectiveness," the letter, which was signed by House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), adds.

Amnesty in a statement released at a news conference on Monday said that the proposal is in line with its Stop Violence Against Women campaign and that "sexual violence directed at women and girls is a human rights scandal."

The statement adds that the group is not debating whether women have the right to an abortion under any circumstances.

According to the AP/Los Angeles Times, a decision on the proposal could come in August 2007 during Amnesty's next international gathering in Mexico (AP/Los Angeles Times, 11/20).