Thursday, June 17, 2004
Another group of openminded tolerant people stiff-arm their own countries
New Latin American Document Recognizes Sexual Rights
A discord-filled Latin American regional meeting held in Mexico
City last week witnessed pro-abortion and pro-lesbian advocates take
control of many government delegations, allegations of blackmail made
against the United States, and the acceptance of a document that appears
to support abortion, even though most Latin American countries recognize
the right to life from the moment of conception.
The outcome of the Ninth Regional Conference on Women in Latin
America and the Caribbean left radical feminist advocates claiming a
victory for their agenda and a defeat for the United States and its
pro-life allies, including Nicaragua and El Salvador.
The outcome document, what is now being called the Mexico City
Consensus, includes language calling on Latin American states to
implement legislation Guaranteeing the responsible exercise of sexual and
reproductive rights and access without discrimination to health services,
encompassing sexual and reproductive health.
The most significant aspect of this language is the insertion of
sexual rights. Ellen Sauerbrey, US Ambassador to the UN Commission on
the Status of Women and the head of the US delegation at the meeting, told
the Friday Fax that, I am concerned about the implication of sexual
rights because to the best of my knowledge it is a new and undefined
concept, one that I have not seen in any major international document.
Some observers believe that radical feminists hope that sexual rights
could eventually include such things as abortion-on-demand, legalized
prostitution, homosexual marriage, and complete sexual autonomy for
children.
According to Lilian Celiberti, of Articulacion Feminista Marcosur,
a pro-abortion womens group, the US was so concerned with this language
that it blackmailed several delegations to prevent the use of the terms
sexual and reproductive rights in the final document, an allegation
that is vehemently denied by Saurebrey. According to Sauerbrey,
Absolutely at no point at this meeting or leading up to it was there any
implication that the many programs that the United States funds to promote
women's rights throughout the world would be impacted by decisions made by
delegations at this or any other international meeting.
According to a news report, the goal of such regional meetings is
to create documents that will be sent to United Nations headquarters in
New York, to represent the objectives of the Latin American region
during next years Beijing +10 Conference, the ten-year follow-up to the
Fourth World Conference on Women.
Rocio Galvez, president of Provida, a Mexican pro-life group that
worked with many other pro-life NGOs at the meeting, said that, We see
what happened in Mexico as very disturbing, because the pro-abortion and
pro-lesbian groups imposed a stance against life and morality which does
not at all represent the views of this region. I hope that in Beijing +10
there is more tolerance, and that it is made clear that not all social
groups advocate anti-family practices like abortion and homosexuality.
The next regional meeting will be in Puerto Rico from June 28 to
July 2.
Copyright C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute). Permission
granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
A discord-filled Latin American regional meeting held in Mexico
City last week witnessed pro-abortion and pro-lesbian advocates take
control of many government delegations, allegations of blackmail made
against the United States, and the acceptance of a document that appears
to support abortion, even though most Latin American countries recognize
the right to life from the moment of conception.
The outcome of the Ninth Regional Conference on Women in Latin
America and the Caribbean left radical feminist advocates claiming a
victory for their agenda and a defeat for the United States and its
pro-life allies, including Nicaragua and El Salvador.
The outcome document, what is now being called the Mexico City
Consensus, includes language calling on Latin American states to
implement legislation Guaranteeing the responsible exercise of sexual and
reproductive rights and access without discrimination to health services,
encompassing sexual and reproductive health.
The most significant aspect of this language is the insertion of
sexual rights. Ellen Sauerbrey, US Ambassador to the UN Commission on
the Status of Women and the head of the US delegation at the meeting, told
the Friday Fax that, I am concerned about the implication of sexual
rights because to the best of my knowledge it is a new and undefined
concept, one that I have not seen in any major international document.
Some observers believe that radical feminists hope that sexual rights
could eventually include such things as abortion-on-demand, legalized
prostitution, homosexual marriage, and complete sexual autonomy for
children.
According to Lilian Celiberti, of Articulacion Feminista Marcosur,
a pro-abortion womens group, the US was so concerned with this language
that it blackmailed several delegations to prevent the use of the terms
sexual and reproductive rights in the final document, an allegation
that is vehemently denied by Saurebrey. According to Sauerbrey,
Absolutely at no point at this meeting or leading up to it was there any
implication that the many programs that the United States funds to promote
women's rights throughout the world would be impacted by decisions made by
delegations at this or any other international meeting.
According to a news report, the goal of such regional meetings is
to create documents that will be sent to United Nations headquarters in
New York, to represent the objectives of the Latin American region
during next years Beijing +10 Conference, the ten-year follow-up to the
Fourth World Conference on Women.
Rocio Galvez, president of Provida, a Mexican pro-life group that
worked with many other pro-life NGOs at the meeting, said that, We see
what happened in Mexico as very disturbing, because the pro-abortion and
pro-lesbian groups imposed a stance against life and morality which does
not at all represent the views of this region. I hope that in Beijing +10
there is more tolerance, and that it is made clear that not all social
groups advocate anti-family practices like abortion and homosexuality.
The next regional meeting will be in Puerto Rico from June 28 to
July 2.
Copyright C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute). Permission
granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
