On June 4th of this year, the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) approved a partnership with the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) by a narrow vote of 17 to 15. It was a drawn-out, boisterous, and incendiary process that included a rare appearance by the Pro-abortion WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to the proceedings.

Our fear was materialized by this vote and this alliance, because we know it will have far-reaching implications on global health policies which will adversely impact the lives of pregnant women and their unborn children.

Why such great trepidation?

In a nutshell, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) is a think tank for pro-abortion lawyers. Founded over thirty years ago, they have spent decades fighting to eradicate protective pro-life laws in the United States and abroad. With an annual budget of 35 million dollars, they have dedicated themselves to traveling the globe, hoping to topple the laws of sovereign nations with little to no regard for those peoples’ sovereignty and values. They have never seen an international court they didn’t like.

Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) shared our grave concerns about this decision. In the lead-up to the vote, he and many other pro-life members of Congress signed on to a letter addressed to the Executive Board, in part saying:

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“The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) is a radical organization that manipulates international mechanisms to impose abortion on countries. Even though there is no internationally recognized human rights obligation about abortion either by treaty or customary international law, CRR claims that such an obligation exists. There are numerous examples of CRR colluding with UN staff and agencies to pressure countries through UN mechanisms and international and national courts. This is part of CRR’s well-documented scheme to impose abortion on all countries, undermining sovereignty and bypassing all democratic processes.”

And there’s more:

United States Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) entered into the Congressional Record an internal strategy document of the Center for Reproductive Rights exposing the plan to exert undue influence on countries by co-opting UN treaty bodies and other UN mechanisms to promote abortion.

In another letter sent to the Executive Board by a large coalition of Pro-Life organizations, including National Right to Life, The EB was warned:

“The group [CRR] routinely misrepresents the status of abortion in international treaties as well as other human rights issues. There is no obligation in any binding international treaty about abortion.”

The danger is real.

Because the WHO’s guidelines carry such significant weight in shaping national health policies, especially in less developed countries, this collaboration with CRR will further divert WHO’s focus and resources towards expanding abortion services rather than addressing other critical health needs.

We know, and it is well-documented, that maternal and child health can be greatly improved through better prenatal care, access to skilled birth attendants, and comprehensive maternal health services.

The zealot pro-abortion lawyers at the Center for Reproductive Rights have never seemed to care – their concern is the hallways of international courts, not the maternity wards in lesser-developed countries.

LifeNews.com Note: Raimundo Rojas is the director of Hispanic outreach for the National Right to Life Committee. He is a former president of Florida Right to Life and has presented the pro-life message to millions in Spanish-language media outlets. He represents NRLC at the United Nations as an NGO. Rojas was born in Santiago de las Vegas, Havana, Cuba and he and his family escaped to the United States in 1968.