Table of Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 UdHR Recognition of the Child before birth: Analysis of the texts -- A context of inclusiveness -- Evidence of UN consensus-the child before birth included in human rights protection -- Refuting "only in the preamble" and "only a Declaration" claims -- Chapter 2 UdHR Recognition of the Child before birth: the Historical Context -- Inclusive meaning-the child before as well as after birth -- Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1924) -- Nuremberg Trials (1947/8) "...protection of the law was denied to the unborn children..." -- First Draft of the International Covenant (1947)-"from the moment of conception" -- Post-World War II Geneva Conventions -- Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) -- Geneva Protocol II (1977) -- Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) -- Draft American Declaration of the International Rights and Duties of Man (1948)-"...the right to life from the moment of conception" -- World Medical Association Declaration of Geneva (1948)- "the utmost respect for human life from the time of conception" -- American Declaration of the International Rights and Duties of Man (1948) -- International Code of Medical Ethics (1949)-"the importance of preserving human life from the time of conception" -- Draft Declaration on the Rights of the Child (1950)-"even from before birth" -- European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950) -- Draft Declaration on the Rights of the Child (1957) -- UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959)-"...legal protection before as well as after birth" -- Draft American Convention on Human Rights (1959)-"protected by law from the moment of conception" -- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)- "to save the life of an unborn child".

American Convention on Human Rights (1969)-"in general, from the moment of conception" -- Chapter 3 Fundamentals of the Universal declaration's Human Rights Protection -- Legally binding principles -- UDHR recognition of child before birth still pertained in 1959 -- Irrevocable nature of Universal Declaration tied to inalienability of human rights -- Universal human rights-natural, inalienable, "a permanent guide" -- Recognition of natural-law rights-clarified through Holocaust experience -- Absolutely no one to be excluded from human rights protection -- Universal Declaration and the fragility of medical ethics -- Moral Relativism-no place in the Universal Declaration -- Natural-law principles declared by the drafters to be universal -- Universal rights-a bulwark against ideological manipulation -- "Never Again!" commitment at the heart of the Universal Declaration -- Inherent dignity and children at risk of abortion -- Dehumanizing language cannot legitimize human rights violations -- Universal Declaration built on "the inherence view of human rights" -- Chapter 4 The inaugural Human Right-to be born Free and equal 47 Rights of the child exist before birth -- Being human confers human rights-not the act of "being born" -- Each child existentially unique-the same child before as well as after birth -- Children before birth-"human beings without frills" -- UDHR Article 1: Reason, conscience and the spirit of brotherhood -- Reason and the rules of conscience -- Acting in the spirit of brotherhood-"Everyone has duties to the community..." -- Current ideological revamping of Article 1-invalid -- Restoring the word 'born' to its true context -- The real issue at stake-are rights inherent or are they granted by governments? -- Excluding the idea of hereditary slavery -- Article 1 "should state the philosophical basis of human rights".

Verdoodt on abortion in the drafting history of the Universal Declaration -- Conforming domestic abortion legislation to human rights principles -- Misreading post-World War II Declaration with a 21st century bias -- Chapter 5 What is "Appropriate" legal Protection before As Well As After birth? -- Non-discriminatory legal protection -- Applying the human rights principle-"without distinction of any kind" -- Appropriate legal protection-part of "special safeguards" entitlement -- Inappropriate legal status-the child before birth an inferior being? -- Appropriate legal protection-the right to recognition as a person before the law -- Cassin and Roosevelt on juridical personality -- Denying legal personality to the child before birth-a "punishment by civil death" -- The child before birth entitled to the same legal protection as after birth -- Appropriate legal protection-equal before the law and equal protection of the law -- Appropriate legal protection-protection of the law against 'arbitrary interference' -- Decriminalization of abortion-incompatible with appropriate legal protection -- Legalization of abortion-incompatible with appropriate legal protection -- Appropriate legal protection-universality, objectivity and nonselectivity -- Appropriate legal protection "...meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare..." -- Legalized abortion is "...contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations" -- Recognition of human rights prohibits "destruction of any of the rights" -- Children at risk of abortion-protected by the rule of law -- Chapter 6 The Right to life and to the necessities of life -- Each individual has the right to physical existence -- "Everyone has the right to life..." -- Procured abortion contravenes principles of necessity and proportionality.

Procured abortion not within recognized exceptions to the right to life -- "Everyone has the right to... liberty" -- Unwantedness-attitudinal prejudice-not a reason for abortion -- Procured abortion-an exercise of ownership over the child in utero -- "Everyone has the right to...security of person" -- Socially guaranteed necessities of life for child's survival and development -- Guarding children against "measures intended to prevent their birth" -- "...the right to physical integrity from the moment of conception" -- The right to life and Article 5 -- Legal protection against "...cruel treatment" -- Legal protection against "...inhuman treatment" -- Legal protection against "...degrading treatment" -- Legal protection against "...cruel, inhuman or degrading... punishment" -- Right to life-the right to the necessities of life for mother and her unborn child -- Mothers and children at risk of abortion-"entitled to special care and assistance" -- The right "...to share in scientific advancement and its benefits" -- Abortion-part of ktenology, the science of killing-not genuine health care -- A "social and international order" in which the right to life is "fully realized" -- Chapter 7 Decriminalization-A treaty interpretation Manifestly Unreasonable -- "In accordance with the Declaration of Human Rights" -- UN Declaration principles-"of great and lasting significance" -- Reinterpretation of human rights instruments to exclude the child before birth: legally and morally an invalid process -- Decriminalization of abortion-"a result... manifestly unreasonable" -- Decriminalization-a most inappropriate legal protection for the child at risk of abortion -- Convention on the Rights of the Child-"appropriate legal protection" -- Attempts to gut "appropriate legal protection" of meaning for the child before birth.

Reading "appropriate legal protection" for the child as primarily a women's rights statement? -- Each State determines for itself what is "appropriate legal protection"? -- Human rights not constricted by existing national legislation -- Conventions and Declarations on which they are based must be logically compatible -- Tracing the path from Declaration to Convention -- Pre-natal care and protection-"provided both to him and to his mother" -- Applying the general principles of the CRC inclusively -- 1. Non-discrimination -- 2. The best interests of the child -- 3. The child's inherent right to life -- Inclusiveness fundamental to all human rights treaties -- Chapter 8 CRC legislative History and the Child before birth -- Strong support for recognition of the rights of the unborn child -- Preamble integral to the Convention -- Long tradition of human rights protection before as well as after birth -- Legislative history supports "before as well as after birth" human rights protection -- Protecting liberal abortion laws or protecting the child before birth? -- Ideological reinterpretation of human rights -- "The Polish contribution" -- Child's right to pre-natal care-inconsistent with legal abortion -- Ascertaining "...the form and scope of legal protection of the child before birth" -- Examining resistance to legal protection for the child before birth -- ICCPR consensus on "when life begins" -- No "margin of appreciation" on the form and scope of the child's right to life -- Historical context invalidates Lopatka's claims -- Chapter 9 Selective Abortion on Grounds of disability -- Reclaiming the human rights of children with disabilities at risk of abortion -- Preambles-negligible or significant? -- Ensuring "...appropriate legal protection before as well as after birth".

Selective abortion: discrimination against children-"a serious violation of rights".