Vatican official tells UN abortion isn't a 'reproductive right,' gender is 'grounded in biological sex'

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Friday, September 27, 2024

A representative of the Vatican is urging the United Nations to refrain from promoting abortion as a form of "sexual and reproductive health" while stressing the importance of adhering to a traditional understanding of gender and sexuality. 

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, delivered

"Regarding the terms' sexual and reproductive health,' the Holy See considers these terms as applying to a holistic concept of health, which embrace, each in their own way, the person in the entirety of his or her personality, mind and body, and which foster the achievement of personal maturity in sexuality and in the mutual love and decision-making that characterize the conjugal-relationship between a man and a woman in accordance with moral norms," he said. 

Parolin stressed that "The Holy See does not consider abortion or access to abortion or abortifacients as a dimension of these terms."

The Pact for the Future, adopted by the U.N. General Assembly last week, contains a section expressing a commitment to "ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights." The terms "reproductive health" and "reproductive rights" are often used as euphemisms for abortion. 

Parolin also told U.N. members that "with reference to 'gender,' the Holy See understands the term to be grounded in the biological sexual identity that is male or female." In recent years, the definition of "gender," a term frequently used in the Pact for the Future, has often been expanded to include an individual's stated gender identity as opposed to their biological sex. 

The Vatican diplomat began his speech by stating that the U.N. summit was taking place "against a backdrop of apparent crisis in the multilateral system," which he attributed to "the erosion of trust between nations, as evidenced by the growing prevalence and intensity of conflict." 

"The future should be constructed on a foundation of principles, including the inherent, God-given dignity of every individual, the promotion of integral human development, the equality and sovereign dignity of nations, and the establishment of trust between them," Parolin stated. He suggested that to achieve such a future, "there is a need to rethink actions in a number of areas."

"It is imperative that a dignified future is guaranteed for all, ensuring the provision of the requisite conditions — including a nurturing family environment — to facilitate flourishing, while simultaneously addressing the myriad challenges that impede this, including those resulting from poverty, conflict, exploitation and addiction," he added. 

Parolin's address does not mark the first time the Vatican has pushed back against the promotion of gender ideology.

In an interview published last year, Pope Francis declared that "gender ideology, at this time, is one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations."

Francis expressed concern about how gender ideology "dilutes differences between men and women," adding that "growing through the tension of differences" between the sexes constitutes an important part of humanity. 

"There are somewhat naive people who believe that it is the path of progress and do not distinguish what is respect for sexual diversity or various sexual options from what is already an anthropology of gender, which is extremely dangerous because it annuls differences, and that it annuls humanity, the richness of humanity, personal type, as cultural and social, the differences and the tensions between the differences."