Contact: Benjamin May, 202-737-5339, bmay@policyimpact.com; www.wcf9.org

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 30, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ -- The World Congress of Families (WCF) has asked pro-family advocates around the world to sign an online petition that defends the basic human rights (as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - United Nations, 1948) of every human life from conception to natural death. As the historic ninth World Congress of Families draws to an end, organizers of the the congress were pleased to announce that 17,433 advocates have signed the petition within a week. The online petition was initiated by World Congress of Families partner CitizenGo.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 and has generally been accepted as the foundation of international human rights. It also represents the commitment of 193 members of the United Nations to basic human rights and fundamental freedoms to all human beings.

"The remarkable amount of signatures this petition has received in such a short period of time is indicative of the importance of human rights and our need to be vigilant in supporting them," said Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, executive director of WCF IX. The WCF is challenging other human rights and civil rights organizations around the world (including Human Rights Campaign, Amnesty International and Southern Poverty Law Center) to sign the pledge and also protect the basic human rights of all people.

Here are a few key points from the UDHR:

• In Article 3, the UDHR defends the right to life by saying that "everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."
   
• Article 6 says that, "everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law."
   
• Article 18 defends the right to freedom of thought and religion by explaining that "everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."
   
• Article 16 unequivocally states that, "Family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State." Article 16 also states that "Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and found a family."
   
• Article 25 states that "motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance," and that "parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given their children."

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is the largest gathering of pro-family advocates in the world. WCF IX will seek to provide sound scholarship and effective strategies, and it will mobilize intellectual and advocacy resources to affirm and defend the natural family as the fundamental and only sustainable unit of a free society.