Archbishop Chullikatt defends rights of the child, “before as well as after birth”

October 22, 2013: Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations on Thursday last week addressed the UN’s meeting of Third Committee of the 68th General Assembly on the Convention for the Promotion and Protection of Children's Rights.

During his intervention he said “..it follows that each child must be accorded in the first place the right to be born. This is a right, moreover, which must be protected equally – without discrimination on any grounds, including those of sex or disability or policies dictated by eugenics. Thus, pre-natal diagnosis undertaken for the purpose of deciding whether or not the baby will be permitted to be born is inconsistent with the Convention, which my Delegation regards as the fundamental normative instrument on the rights of the child. The unborn baby is a member of our human family and does not belong to a “sub-category of human beings”. He observed.

He also spoke of the indispensable role of the family for the protection of children and said that the States have the duty to protect, support and strengthen the family for the best interests of the child. Moreover, he said “These rights and responsibilities of parents in international law are the bulwark of their fundamental right to freedom of religion in regard to which parents are entirely entitled to choose schools other than those established by the public authorities, in conformity with their own convictions”