Thursday, April 25, 2013

New UNICEF Report draws attention to protecting babies in early months of life, before and after birth

The following news release was issued today, April 25, by MCCL GO.

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Concern for the developmental health of the unborn child worldwide is a focus of a new report issued by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Pro-life citizens and organizations are encouraged to join their voices in this call for greater care for early human life.

"Improving Child Nutrition: The achievable imperative for global progress" underscores the critical importance of the first 1,000 days of human life, from conception through the child's second birthday. The G8 leaders, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the World Health Assembly have made adequate nutrition for babies, unborn and born, a top investment priority.

"MCCL GO enthusiastically supports this new U.N. emphasis on healthy outcomes for babies," said MCCL GO's Scott Fischbach. "The global nutrition community has recognized the importance of caring for unborn children and their mothers, which gives us much hope in our efforts to educate leaders about the need to protect human life."

Recognizing the lifelong impact of undernutrition and stunting, UNICEF is calling for various means of intervention on behalf of unborn and newly-born babies. Programs will advocate for proper nutrition and health care for pregnant women and their babies in order to achieve the best outcome for children.

"Poor nutrition in the first 1,000 days of children's lives can have irreversible consequences," the UNICEF report states. "It is difficult to think of a greater injustice than robbing a child, in the womb and in infancy, of the ability to fully develop his or her talents throughout life."

These concerns are reflected in the U.N.'s foundational documents regarding children, including the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959), 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," and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which recognizes that "every child has the inherent right to life."

MCCL GO shares these beliefs in the rights of children. Every unborn child is innocent and deserves protection from harm, whether by malnutrition, assault on the child's mother or abortion.

"Indeed, it is a great injustice to rob an unborn child of his or her future," Fischbach said. "Whenever the U.N. speaks up for and establishes programs to help pregnant women and their unborn babies, MCCL GO is there to support them."

MCCL GO is a pro-life global outreach program of the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Education Fund with one goal: to save as many innocent lives as possible from the destruction of abortion. Learn more at www.mccl-go.org.