Human Life International

Last updated
Father Shenan J. Boquet during the Parisian March for Life in 2017. Paris - Marche pour la Vie 2017 - 2.jpg
Father Shenan J. Boquet during the Parisian March for Life in 2017.

Human Life International (HLI) is a Roman Catholic, U.S.-based anti-abortion organization. [1] [2] [3] It is one of the largest anti-abortion organizations in the United States. [2] It describes itself as "the largest international pro-life organization in the world", saying that it has affiliates and associates in over 80 nations worldwide and has sent representatives to approximately 160. [4] [5] The group is led by clergy. [6] It has been based in Front Royal, Virginia since 1996. [7] [8]

Contents

Human Life International was established in 1981 in Gaithersburg, Maryland by Paul Marx, [9] [8] [10] as a continuation of the Human Life Center founded by Marx at Saint John's University, Minnesota in 1972. [5] Its mission is to train and organize anti-abortion movement leaders — priests, crisis pregnancy centers, civic leaders, radio and television programmers, and family counselors [11] . HLI bases its activism on Catholic anti-abortion beliefs, which propose that life begins at conception. [12] The group also advocates against contraceptives. [5] [13] [14] It has supported the criminalization of homosexuality in Uganda. [15]

In the mid-1990s, Jennifer Gonnerman described HLI's anti-abortion campaign as more influential than that of the Operation Save America. [16] In 1997, Human Life International supported the founding of the Center for Family and Human Rights. [17] [18] The group is affiliated with the Population Research Institute. [18] From 2000 to 2014, the group used $7.9 million for anti-abortion causes. [2]

Shenan J. Boquet became president of HLI in November 2011. [5]

In 2017, The Guardian reported that several US crisis pregnancy center (CPC) and anti-abortion groups including Human Life International (HLI), have been providing money and assistance to networks of CPC's in Latin America, as well as lobbying against the liberalization of abortion laws throughout the region. [3] HLI started their network of CPC's in the region in the 1980's, with the total number of locations having increased to approximately 130 CPC's across 20 countries by 2015. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States abortion-rights movement</span> Support for womens right to elective abortion

The United States abortion-rights movement is a sociopolitical movement in the United States supporting the view that a woman should have the legal right to an elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy, and is part of a broader global abortion-rights movement. The movement consists of a variety of organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family planning</span> Planning if or when to have children

Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marital situation, career or work considerations, financial situations. If sexually active, family planning may involve the use of contraception and other techniques to control the timing of reproduction.

The Mexico City policy, sometimes referred to by its critics as the global gag rule, is a United States government policy blocking U.S. federal funding for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) providing abortion counseling or referrals, advocated to decriminalize abortion, or expanded abortion services. When in effect, the Mexico City policy is a U.S. government policy that requires foreign non-governmental organizations to certify that they will not "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning" with non-U.S. funds as a condition for receiving U.S. global family planning assistance, and during its January 23, 2017 implementation any other U.S. global health assistance, including U.S. global HIV and maternal and child health (MCH) assistance.

Care Net is an evangelical Christian network of crisis pregnancy centers operating primarily in the United States. As an anti-abortion organization, its centers seek to persuade women not to have abortions. Headquartered in Northern Virginia, it is one of the nation's two largest networks of crisis pregnancy centers.

Heartbeat International is an international anti-abortion association that supports the largest network of crisis pregnancy centers (CPC) in the world, with over 2,000 affiliates in 50 countries. It does not offer, recommend, or refer for abortions. Heartbeat International describes itself as an "Interdenominational Christian association". Heartbeat International teaches its affiliated members to make their advertising look as though they are full-service reproductive health clinics that provide referrals for birth control or abortion. Staff are also trained on how to discourage pregnant women from accessing abortion, and how to discourage young women from using emergency contraception, birth control pills, or IUDs. Heartbeat staff are also encouraged to create two websites, one that has an explicitly Christian message, and one that looks like Planned Parenthood. Many pregnancy centers have the ultimate goal of converting women through a born-again experience to "save the mother, save the baby".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crisis pregnancy center</span> Organization that persuades pregnant women against having abortions

A crisis pregnancy center (CPC), sometimes called a pregnancy resource center (PRC) or a pro-life pregnancy center, is a type of nonprofit organization established by anti-abortion groups primarily to persuade pregnant women not to have an abortion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States anti-abortion movement</span> Movement in the United States opposing abortion

The United Statesanti-abortion movement, also called the pro-life movement or right-to-life movement, is a movement in the United States that opposes induced abortion and advocates for the protection of fetuses. Advocates support legal prohibition or restriction on ethical, moral, or religious grounds, arguing that human life begins at conception and that the human zygote, embryo or fetus is a person and therefore has a right to life. The anti-abortion movement includes a variety of organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body. There are diverse arguments and rationales for the anti-abortion stance. Some allow for some permissible abortions, including therapeutic abortions, in exceptional circumstances such as incest, rape, severe fetal defects, or when the woman's health is at risk.

Thomas J. Euteneuer is a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach, and an anti-abortion activist. He was president of Human Life International from 2000 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Americans United for Life</span> Public interest law firm

Americans United for Life (AUL) is an American anti-abortion law firm and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1971, the group opposes abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, and certain contraceptive methods. The organization has led campaigns and been involved in judicial actions to prevent the passage and implementation of legislation that permits abortion, or may increase prevalence of abortion, including successfully defending the Hyde Amendment in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Birthright International is an international organization of crisis pregnancy centers. It offers a range of services, to an estimated 10 million women, designed to "help support a woman's desire not to have an abortion," including referrals to legal, medical and psychological services, as well as a range of community support assistance such as financial aid.

The Dominican Republic is one of 24 countries in the world and one of six in Latin America that has a complete ban on abortion. This complete ban includes situations in which a pregnant person’s life is at risk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for Family and Human Rights</span> American nonprofit organization

The Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam) is a right-wing United States–based advocacy group, founded in 1997, in order to affect policy debate at the United Nations and other international institutions. It was formerly known as the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. The 501(c)(3) organization is anti-abortion and anti-LGBT.

The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) is an American 501(c)(3) charitable organization that seeks to provide alternates to abortions for U.S. women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-abortion movements</span> Movement that believes abortion should be illegal

Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the legalization of elective abortions.

Family & Life is an Irish anti abortion organisation founded in 1996.

Abortion in Uganda is illegal unless performed by a licensed medical doctor in a situation where the woman's life is deemed to be at risk.

Abortion is a controversial topic in Nigeria. Abortion in Nigeria is governed by the two laws that differs greatly depending on geographical location. Northern Nigeria is governed by The Penal Code and Southern Nigeria is governed by The Criminal Code. The only legal way to have an abortion in Nigeria is if having the child is going to put the mother's life in danger. However, sex-selective abortion has long had acceptance in Nigeria.

National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, 585 U.S. 755 (2018), was a case before the Supreme Court of the United States addressing the constitutionality of California's FACT Act, which mandated that crisis pregnancy centers provide certain disclosures about state services. The law required that licensed centers post visible notices that other options for pregnancy, including abortion, are available from state-sponsored clinics. It also mandated that unlicensed centers post notice of their unlicensed status. The centers, typically run by Christian non-profit groups, challenged the act on the basis that it violated their free speech. After prior reviews in lower courts, the case was brought to the Supreme Court, asking "Whether the disclosures required by the California Reproductive FACT Act violate the protections set forth in the free speech clause of the First Amendment, applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment."

Abortion in California is legal up to the point of fetal viability. An abortion ban was in place by 1900, and by 1950, it was a criminal offense for a woman to have an abortion. In 1962, the American Law Institute published their model penal code, as it applied to abortions, with three circumstances where they believed a physician could justifiably perform an abortion, and California adopted a version of this code. In 2002, the California State Legislature passed a law guaranteeing women the right to have an abortion "prior to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman". In 2022, 67% of California voters approved Proposition 1, which amended the Constitution of California to explicitly protect the right to abortion and contraception.

References

  1. Ferris-Rotman, Amie (20 September 2018). "Putin the Pro-Choice Champion". Coda Story. Coda Media . Retrieved 26 November 2021. ...Human Life International, a U.S.-based anti-abortion group.
  2. 1 2 3 Warren, Rossalyn (12 March 2019). "How US organizations support anti-abortion laws in Mexico and elsewhere". CNN . Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Albaladejo, Angelika (2017-10-26). "US groups pour millions into anti-abortion campaign in Latin America and Caribbean". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-05-20. ...Human Life International (HLI), a Catholic not-for-profit group from Virginia, ... The bulk of the US funding is being used to develop a network of "crisis pregnancy centres", which critics claim are designed to persuade women not to have terminations. The number of centres more than doubled between 2012 and 2015, to 130. HLI brought the crisis pregnancy centre model to Latin America in the 1980s and is one of the most active supporters of the anti-abortion movement in the region.
  4. "Our Mission". Human Life International.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "A Short History of Human Life International". Human Life International.
  6. Diamond, Anna (23 January 2017). "Trump Strikes at Abortion With a Revived Foreign-Aid Rule". The Atlantic . Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  7. Levintova, Hannah (2020). "The Trump Official Who Failed to Reunify Dozens of Separated Children Is Getting a New Role". Mother Jones . Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  8. 1 2 Murphy, Caryle (8 April 2000). "Family Values Feud". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  9. Lemaitre, Julieta; Sieder, Rachel (June 2017). "The Moderating Influence of International Courts on Social Movements". Health and Human Rights . 19 (1): 149–160. ISSN   1079-0969. PMC   5473045 . PMID   28630548.
  10. Miller, Patricia (2014-05-20). "Playing Politics". Good Catholics: The Battle Over Abortion in the Catholic Church. University of California Press. p. 209. doi:10.1525/9780520958272-011. ISBN   978-0-520-95827-2. S2CID   226767853.
  11. Slattery, Kathryn (2010). Building a “World Coalition for Life”: abortion, population control and transnational pro-life networks, 1960-1990 (PhD thesis). UNSW Sydney.
  12. "Our Mission - Human Life International".
  13. Abbasi, Kamran (2001-07-21). "Oral contraceptives". The BMJ . 323 (7305): 172. doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7305.172/a. ISSN   0959-8138. S2CID   71880529.
  14. Ryan, Carol (7 May 2013). "Anniversary of family planning case brings a sense of déjà vu". The Irish Times . Retrieved 26 November 2021. ...Human Life International which is the only pro-life group in Ireland that explicitly opposes contraception...
  15. Cauterucci, Christina (27 July 2017). "A U.S. Nonprofit Is Funding the Fight to Imprison Women for Abortions in El Salvador". Slate . Retrieved 26 November 2021. ...Human Life International, which also supported Uganda's far-reaching criminalization of gay people...
  16. Gonnerman, Jennifer (31 October 1996). "The Anti-Abortion Stealth Campaign: Human Life International makes Operation Rescue look like child's play". On The Issues . 5 (4) via ProQuest.
  17. Tétreault, Mary Ann; Denemark, Robert Allen (2004). Gods, Guns, and Globalization: Religious Radicalism and International Political Economy. Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 74. ISBN   978-1-58826-253-0.
  18. 1 2 Buss, Doris (2003). Globalizing Family Values: The Christian Right in International Politics. University of Minnesota Press. pp. xxviii, 63. ISBN   978-0-8166-4208-3.