AFRICA/KENYA - "Life starts at conception" Bishops of Kenya affirm, following proposal to alter Constitution to claim life begins at birth
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - "Conscious of our divine mandate to promote the culture of life and to stand for the inviolable right of every person to life from the moment of conception to natural death, we strongly feel we cannot be party to any legislation that supports a culture of death," the Bishops of Kenya affirm in a declaration in which they take a stance on the proposal made by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Review to alter a Constitutional clause that originally stated that life starts at conception, in order to claim that it starts at birth.
This proposal is seen by the Catholic Church as tantamount to legalizing abortion. "To insert in the constitution a clause that shifts the moment of life from conception to the time of birth defeats reason and without doubt is to open the way to legalized abortion," the Bishops write.
The Kenyan Bishops' Conference reiterates that abortion is "an unspeakable crime" and that it was a sign of an extremely grave moral crisis. The Bishops affirm that the Church has always defended the right to life, from conception until natural death, and highlighted the fact that any attempt to deny this truth is wrong and misleading. The Bishops also wanted the same article to state that there shall be no capital punishment nor euthanasia.
The Bishops had earlier presented to the Committee of Experts (CoE) a memorandum with regard to Article 35- Right to Life, stating the same stance. However, the Parliamentary Select Committee declined to insert the proposed clause. (LM)
(Agenzia Fides 25/1/2010)
