Friday, April 15, 2005
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FRIDAY FAX
April 15, 2005
Volume 8, Number 17
Pro-Life Forces Claim Victory at UN Population Conference
The UN Commission on Population and Development (CPD) ended its annual
session yesterday and prolife groups are claiming victory. As is typical,
the UN organizers and allied pro-abortion non-governmental organizations
had hoped to use the conference outcome document to advance
abortion-on-demand, specifically through adoption of the phrase
"reproductive health care services." A coalition of regionally diverse
nations including the US, Costa Rica, and Egypt banded together and
stopped them.
In preparation for the 38th session of the CPD the UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan had issued reports asking for "universal voluntary access to a
full range of reproductive health care information and services." The UN
Population Fund (UNFPA) joined with pro-abortion lobby groups to call for
"universal access to sexual and reproductive health services and
programmes." In UN terminology, "reproductive services" includes the
availability of abortion.
The draft resolutions prepared at the start of the conference by
Alfredo Chuquihuara of Peru, the outgoing CPD chair, urged governments to
provide "sexual and reproductive health care services" and stressed the
importance of promoting "reproductive health and rights." The drafts also
unequivocally reaffirmed the outcome document of the 1994 International
Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) agreed to at Cairo. The
Cairo document refers to "reproductive rights" and "reproductive health"
and has been used by UN agencies and lobby groups to promote abortion.
Intense informal negotiations on the CPD drafts stretched throughout
the week, often lasting into the early hours of the morning. Because of
the pre-drafted language in the documents, one Holy See official described
the negotiations as "starting with the knife in your stomach and seeing
how far you can pull it out."
Sustained opposition by the United States and numerous developing
countries at last led to the removal of references to "reproductive
rights" and of the word "services" in connection with "sexual and
reproductive health." Moreover, the reaffirmation of Cairo was qualified
by a reference to a document containing the reservations of many countries
stating that the Cairo conference does not create a right to abortion.
This is the second victory for pro-life forces at the UN in as many
months. At the Commission on the Status of Women in March, the United
States forced numerous left-wing governments and pro-abortion NGOs to
admit that the Beijing Platform for Action also did not create a right to
abortion.
Copyright 2005 - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute).
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 427
New York, New York 10017
Phone: (212) 754-5948 Fax: (212) 754-9291
E-mail: c-fam@c-fam.org Website: www.c-fam.org
April 15, 2005
Volume 8, Number 17
Pro-Life Forces Claim Victory at UN Population Conference
The UN Commission on Population and Development (CPD) ended its annual
session yesterday and prolife groups are claiming victory. As is typical,
the UN organizers and allied pro-abortion non-governmental organizations
had hoped to use the conference outcome document to advance
abortion-on-demand, specifically through adoption of the phrase
"reproductive health care services." A coalition of regionally diverse
nations including the US, Costa Rica, and Egypt banded together and
stopped them.
In preparation for the 38th session of the CPD the UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan had issued reports asking for "universal voluntary access to a
full range of reproductive health care information and services." The UN
Population Fund (UNFPA) joined with pro-abortion lobby groups to call for
"universal access to sexual and reproductive health services and
programmes." In UN terminology, "reproductive services" includes the
availability of abortion.
The draft resolutions prepared at the start of the conference by
Alfredo Chuquihuara of Peru, the outgoing CPD chair, urged governments to
provide "sexual and reproductive health care services" and stressed the
importance of promoting "reproductive health and rights." The drafts also
unequivocally reaffirmed the outcome document of the 1994 International
Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) agreed to at Cairo. The
Cairo document refers to "reproductive rights" and "reproductive health"
and has been used by UN agencies and lobby groups to promote abortion.
Intense informal negotiations on the CPD drafts stretched throughout
the week, often lasting into the early hours of the morning. Because of
the pre-drafted language in the documents, one Holy See official described
the negotiations as "starting with the knife in your stomach and seeing
how far you can pull it out."
Sustained opposition by the United States and numerous developing
countries at last led to the removal of references to "reproductive
rights" and of the word "services" in connection with "sexual and
reproductive health." Moreover, the reaffirmation of Cairo was qualified
by a reference to a document containing the reservations of many countries
stating that the Cairo conference does not create a right to abortion.
This is the second victory for pro-life forces at the UN in as many
months. At the Commission on the Status of Women in March, the United
States forced numerous left-wing governments and pro-abortion NGOs to
admit that the Beijing Platform for Action also did not create a right to
abortion.
Copyright 2005 - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute).
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 427
New York, New York 10017
Phone: (212) 754-5948 Fax: (212) 754-9291
E-mail: c-fam@c-fam.org Website: www.c-fam.org
