BY Ian Dunn | February 17 | 
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Vatican stand firm against abortion during Zika virus panic
The Vatican has said the international community should respond to the Zika virus with ‘due vigilance’ but the ‘way forward should not be dictated by panic,’ and condemned recent statements by some UN officials calling for countries to liberalise abortion laws in response to the virus.
Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations, was speaking during a briefing this week on Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects such as microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
“We are deeply concerned by the recent call by some government officials, as well as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, for the liberalisation of abortion laws and access to abortifacients as a means to prevent the birth of children with birth defects,” Archbishop Auza said.
“Not only is increased access to abortion and abortifacients an illegitimate response to this crisis, but since it terminates the life of a child it is fundamentally not preventative.
“Regardless of the connection to the Zika virus, it is a fact of human existence that some children develop conditions like microcephaly, and that these children deserve to be protected and cared for throughout their lives, in accordance with our obligation to safeguard all human life, healthy and disabled, with equal commitment, leaving no one behind,” Archbishop Auza said.
Pic: Ana Beatriz, a 4-month-old girl with microcephaly, is seen in a photo in Lagoa do Carro, Brazil.
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