FRIDAY FAX
May 27, 2005
Volume 8, Number 23
New Report Shows How Beijing Document Promotes Abortion

Merely two months after the close of the "Beijing +10" conference at
the United Nations, where pro-abortion lobby groups and delegates from
several countries vehemently denied that the 1995 Beijing Platform for
Action supports a right to legal abortion, a prominent abortion advocacy
group has released two briefing papers admitting that Beijing promotes
legalized abortion.

In "Abortion and the Law: Ten Years of Reform," the Center for
Reproductive Rights, the world's only organization of human rights lawyers
focusing exclusively on abortion, states that Beijing "provides vital
support to advocates seeking abortion law reform in their countries."

The report explains that Beijing, while not directly calling for
legalized abortion, provides a "global commitment to stopping unsafe
abortion." The report highlights Beijing's call upon governments to "to
deal with the health impact of unsafe abortion as a major public health
concern." According to the report, Beijing thus "link[ed] women's health
to abortion law reform" and "affirmed what has become increasingly clear
to governments and advocates worldwide: that removing legal barriers to
abortion saves women's lives, promotes their health, and empowers women."

In its second recent briefing paper, "Beijing and International Law: UN
Treaty Monitoring Bodies Uphold Reproductive Rights," CRR explains how
Beijing supports the activities of other UN bodies that are pressuring
countries to legalize their abortion laws. CRR states that Beijing
"focuses primarily on the impact of unsafe abortion," and various UN
treaty monitoring bodies have found illegal abortion to be unsafe.

According to CRR, such committees have "made the important connection
between illegal, unsafe abortion and high rates of maternal mortality."
According to these committees, "maternal mortality caused by unsafe
abortion [is] a violation of women's rights to health and life." Thus,
these committees argue that women's rights to life and health mandate
legalized abortion.

CRR highlights activities of the Human Rights Committee (HRC), which
monitors implementation of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights. The Covenant, created at a time when most countries
banned abortion, does not refer to abortion in any way. However, HRC has
nonetheless frequently used its ICCPR mandate to pressure countries to
liberalize their abortion laws.

For example, in March 2005 HRC told Kenya that it is concerned about
the "maternal mortality...caused, inter alia, by a high number of unsafe
or illegal abortions," and stated that Kenya "should review its abortion
laws."

In 2004 HRC told Poland that it "reiterates its deep concern about the
restrictive abortion laws in Poland, which may incite women to seek
unsafe, illegal abortion...the State Party should liberalize its
legislation and practice on abortion."

Copyright 2005 - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute).
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.

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