The recent Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Nicaragua by the UN's Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva demonstrates the pro-abortion pressure UN agencies exert on sovereign nations. In the reporting document by treaty bodies, the Committee against Torture and the United Nations Country Team echoed the statements by CEDAW, the HR Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and exhorted Nicaragua to review its law on abortion.

In response, Nicaragua's Minister of Government Ana Isabel Morales told the HRC: "...the legal reforms and new provisions referring to abortion in Nicaragua are the result of the exercise of sovereignty in our country; this is not a religious issue. A majority of Nicaraguans believe the right to life of the unborn child is important, because it is a human being with the right to live. They also believe abortion is not an appropriate method of birth control..."

A summary prepared by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights of the 12 shadow reports submitted by NGOs was presented during the official review. Organizations which called on Nicaragua to change the Penal Code and provide access to abortion for included Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Ipas, Programa Feminista Centroamericano La Corriente, the Iniciativa por los Derechos Sexuales (PFCLC-IDS), and the Nicaraguan Federation of NGOs Working with Children and Adolescents (CODENI).

PNCI urges pro-life organizations and like-minded groups to use the shadow report process to ensure that the pro-life message is heard by UN entities during the various reporting reviews of countries.

Source: Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues

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