Philippine leaders rejected pressure from the United Nations again last week to legalize the killing of unborn babies in abortions in their country.
The Manila Times reports Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the pro-abortion recommendation from the United Nations Human Rights Council last week in Geneva conflicts with his nation’s values.
“Culturally, our values may conflict with many of the values that [Western countries] want to impose upon us. We are not ready for that, culturally we are not ready for that. That is our position right now,” Remulla said Monday in a statement to the press.
While the Asian country agreed with most of the UN recommendations on human rights, he said a few were “not acceptable,” including the legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and divorce, The Diplomat reports.
“It’s a matter of policy whether we accept it or not, and I think we know as a country, we are not ready for that,” Remulla said.
The Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country, protects unborn babies by banning abortions. But, like other pro-life countries, its leaders continue to face intense pressure from rich world powers to legalize abortion on demand.
After the UN meeting last week, Philippine Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez criticized pro-abortion leaders for picking on his country because its laws protect babies in the womb.
“These are the usual countries that always pick on the Philippines. These are the rich countries from Europe that are very, very high on individual rights and have no notion of community rights. But I think we did very well,” Vasquez said, according to The Manila Times.
He said the Philippine delegation to the UN could not agree to all of the recommendations “because of national identity, our religious beliefs and our cultural traditions and the Philippine sovereignty that need to be protected and upheld at all times.”
Pro-life leaders say U.S. President Joe Biden also has been pressuring pro-life countries to legalize abortion.
Abortion is the number one cause of death world-wide. Estimates vary, but research suggests somewhere between 42 million and 73 million unborn babies are aborted every year across the world.
Reporting from Life News.
