United for Life

Raising greater awareness of human life issues

21 November 2005

Mr Tony Juniper
Director
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood Street
LONDON
N1 7JQ

Dear Mr Juniper

Thank you for the reply I received by e-mail of 13 October 2005 from Maria Dyson.

In our previous two letters to Friends of the Earth (one before 6th June and the other dated 10th October 2005) United for Life demonstrated that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects the right to life of ‘all members of the human family’, and that, since the unborn are members of the human family the UDHRs protects the right to life of the unborn.

United for Life also demonstrated that the Declaration on the Rights of the Child applies to the unborn, which states that, '...the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.'

The UDHRs proclaims these Rights as 'a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations' and that 'every individual and every organ of society ...shall strive ...to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance ...among the peoples of Member States.'

You claimed in your email to us that Friends of the Earth ‘does not work on abortion and as such it would not be appropriate to join the ‘Make Abortion History’ campaign’ and that ‘Friends of the Earth is an environmental campaigning group working for solutions to environmental problems which make life better for people.’

United for Life would like to demonstrate to Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups how abortion, contraception and related issues are environmentally destructive and should be addressed by national and international environmental programmes and campaigns.

We will do this by demonstrating :

• that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and UN Conventions such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) apply to ‘every organ of society’ regardless of ‘remit’



• that both environmental and population groups use population and environmental degradation arguments to impose abortion, contraception and sterilisation agendas on governments and their peoples



• that the womb and the fallopian tubes are the natural environment and the natural habitat of the unborn and therefore require protection



• that the leaching of estrogens and other chemicals from contraceptives into the environment, especially into the water supply and the soil, is an environmental issue



• that natural family planning is eco-friendly, woman-friendly, and human-life-friendly

Every organ of society - regardless of remit

The Universal Declaration proclaims that '...every organ of society... shall strive by teaching and education ...to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance ...among the peoples of Member States.'  Therefore every organ of society, regardless of ‘remit’, shall strive to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance.  No ‘organ of society’ can excuse itself from the requirements and obligations under the Universal Declaration on grounds of ‘remit’ or any other grounds.

The Universal Declaration proclaims these Rights as universal, inherent, and inalienable; universal because they are for all (members of the human family), inherent because they are not given, and inalienable because they cannot be taken away.  If a particular group of human lives are being excluded from universal protection, such as the unborn, then, ‘every organ of society... shall strive by teaching and education ...to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance... without distinction.’

It is right therefore that United for Life should call upon Friends of the Earth to commit itself to implementing in full the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in regard to the unborn, which states that, '...the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.'

Environmental and population control groups

Abortion, contraception and sterilization form part of the practice of population control programmes and have at times been implemented by force or by coercion although for the unborn all chemical and surgical abortions are ‘forced abortion’.  The environmental pressure group ECO campaigns with OPT for human population reduction.

According to a review by ECO entitled: Population, Environment and Development - seeking common ground (updated 16 March 2003)  Friends of the Earth ‘...agreed that environmental groups should campaign on population issues...’ and that Friends of the Earth accepts that '...in order to reduce the environmental impact of our lifestyles, a range of restraints might have to be imposed * on people....', but that Duncan McClaren, Sustainable Research Officer of Friends of the Earth, referring to ‘population restraint’ is quoted as saying that, "I think this is closer to interfering with basic human rights....".

Clearly then human rights is an issue which Friends of the Earth has been concerned about not violating.  United for Life calls upon Friends of the Earth to support the right to life of the unborn as a basic human rights issue.

* ( United for Life’s emphasis )

The natural environment and natural habitat of the unborn

The natural environment in which unborn children live is constantly under threat by national and international governments, organisations and individuals.  The womb, together with the fallopian tubes during the first 5 or 6 days of life, is the natural habitat of the unborn, yet the womb has become one of the most dangerous environments on earth for children to inhabit since the unborn often have little or no legal protection.  To live in an environment where little or no legal protection exists for the smallest and most vulnerable human lives is a situation we must all take responsibility for.  In Britain alone such environmental degradation destroys 3,500 children by surgical abortion every single week and over six and a half million (6,500,000) children have been killed by surgical abortions since the 1967 Abortion Act.

Polluting the natural environment of the unborn, especially the environment of embryonic children, is often the first assault on early human life and often in the form of chemicals including estrogens from the Pill and other contraceptives.

One of the ways in which the Pill works is by making the lining of the womb, the natural habitat of the unborn, hostile to implantation.  The environment of the womb becomes uninhabitable and the new human life dies.

If a new human life manages to survive this environmental attack and implants in the lining of the womb the Morning After-Pill, which is up to 50 times the dose of the normal contraceptive Pill, is designed as the next line of environmental destruction.  The next line of chemical attack on the lives of the vulnerable is the drug RU486 designed to kill the unborn child up to 9 weeks gestation.  The number of deaths of these early human lives has to be added to the number of surgical abortions to understand the extent of the environmental destruction taking place.

For further information on the impact of the Pill on implantation, and the concern of the Pill as an abuser of human rights, view research by Prof. John Wilks B.Pharm. MPS MACPP entitled : Impact of the Pill on Implantation  and  The Pill - How it Works and Fails , also view his book : A Consumer's Guide to The Pill and Other Drugs.

In addition to abortion destroying the unborn, research by Professor Joel Brind, (President of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute) and others over the past 50 years or so shows that abortion is linked to breast cancer.  The effect on the environment from chemotherapy and other drugs used in the treatment of cancer has to be considered.

For further information on the link between abortion and breast cancer view : Abortion and Breast Cancer - Is There A Link?  by Dr Greg Gardner of the Christian Medical Fellowship .

The leaching of estrogens from contraceptives and other sources into the environment

The leaching of estrogens from contraceptives such as the Pill into the water system and into the soil is yet another consequence of environmental irresponsibility.  The world’s leading scientists have developed these environmentally destructive and life threatening drugs which are now raising both national and international concerns.

The European Commission is now funding research by EDEN into the disruptive effects of estrogens in the water supply.  In May 2005 EDEN produced The Prague Declaration on Endocrine Disruption, which states that,

‘Fish exposed to the contraceptive pill ingredient at concentrations found in European rivers showed disturbed sexual development and impaired reproductive capabilities at the adult stage, including reduced or inhibited egg production and egg fertilisation hindered release of semen and lower survival of their offspring.’

Regarding unborn human life the Declaration continues,

...‘Genital malformations, testis cancer, and some cases of reduced sperm quality arise early in life, even during development in the womb. These conditions have common causes during reproductive organ development in the foetus, which is controlled by hormones. The concern is that endocrine disrupters may interfere with these processes to disturb male genital development during pregnancy. Similarly, hormonal dysregulation may lead to the formation of breast cancer in women and abnormal pubertal development in girls.’’

The Prague Declaration has been signed by over 100 scientists to bring attention to this very serious environmental issue.

The BBC On-line News article, 10 July 2004, entitled: Pollution ‘changes sex of fish’, states that, ‘Hormones in the sewage, including those produced by the female contraceptive pill, are thought to be the main cause’, and that, ‘A third of male fish in British rivers are in the process of changing sex due to pollution in human sewage, research by the Environment Agency suggests.’

These reports show how abortion, contraception and sterilization lifestyles impacts on the environment and why Friends of the Earth should be working to oppose such environmental and human rights abuses.

Natural Family Planning is eco-friendly, woman-friendly, human-life-friendly

WOOMB International, the natural family planning organisation, states that, ‘Women have embraced the Billings method regardless of their socio-economic status, culture or religion.  It is easily understood by all - the blind, the illiterate, those living in absolute poverty and those members of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups identified in the Habitat Agenda.  There is no cost to health or purse in the teaching or practice of this natural, eco-friendly method.  Women and governments are free of the costly complications of contraception.’

Contraceptives treat women’s natural menstrual cycle as if it is a disease to be prevented by attacking her body with carcinogenic environmentally destructive chemicals.  However, natural family planning is eco-friendly, woman-friendly and does not destroy a human life.

United for Life encourages Friends of the Earth to embrace WOOMB’s eco-friendly outlook on human life which is in keeping with Friends of the Earth claim to ‘make life better for people.’

For further information on how natural family planning helps people to live with nature view the following web links :   WOOMB,   NAOMI,   Billings Ovulation Method
The London Center for NaPro Technology  &  FCCA - NaProTECHNOLOGY® .

Conclusion

United for Life believes that it has demonstrated to Friends of the Earth that abortion, contraception and related issues are environmentally destructive and should be addressed by national and international environmental programmes and campaigns.

We therefore ask Friends of the Earth if they are committed to implementing in full the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in regard to the unborn, which states that, '...the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth?’

We await your considered response.

Yours sincerely

Chris Mason
Co-ordinator
United for Life
www.unitedforlife.com
info@unitedforlife.com

cc Ms Maria Dyson - Information Service Team