Aggregated News
U.N. diplomats drafting an international treaty on the rights of the disabled debated a possible ban on the abortion of foetuses with disabilities in an emotional negotiating session that ended on Friday.
A working text of the convention would prohibit the termination of a pregnancy in the case of a foetus with a disability in countries where abortion was otherwise legal.
"It was a very emotional argument, and if you are a person with disability and you are thinking that you might have been aborted because of your disability, it becomes a very personal issue," said New Zealand Ambassador Don MacKay.
Diplomats ended up deferring action on the ban because it was too hot a topic, said MacKay, coordinator of the two-week session.
"This will be one of the hardest issues to resolve. but there are a lot of really hard issues here," he said.
The convention, which drafters hope will come into effect in 2008, also called on governments to provide financial support to the parents of children born with disabilities.
It would require nations ratifying it to adopt...
A working text of the convention would prohibit the termination of a pregnancy in the case of a foetus with a disability in countries where abortion was otherwise legal.
"It was a very emotional argument, and if you are a person with disability and you are thinking that you might have been aborted because of your disability, it becomes a very personal issue," said New Zealand Ambassador Don MacKay.
Diplomats ended up deferring action on the ban because it was too hot a topic, said MacKay, coordinator of the two-week session.
"This will be one of the hardest issues to resolve. but there are a lot of really hard issues here," he said.
The convention, which drafters hope will come into effect in 2008, also called on governments to provide financial support to the parents of children born with disabilities.
It would require nations ratifying it to adopt...