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Subject: Obama Reps Come Out Swinging on Abortion at UN
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:44:54 -0400

Friday Fax  March 12, 2009 | Volume 12, Number 13 Dear Colleague, We report today on the final week of the annual UN Commission on the Status of Women. As expected the Obama Administration has come out strong in favor of language that UN-radicals use to promote abortion. We also report on a significant change in the direction for the European People’s Party, the party in the European Parliament that is supposed to be pro-life and pro-family. Our friends at the Iona Institute in Ireland tell us the EPP is backing away from strong positions. Spread the word. Yours sincerely, Austin Ruse President At UN Obama Reps Push for “Sexual and Reproductive Health”  by Samantha Singson      (NEW YORK – C-FAM)  The annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meeting continues at the United Nations (UN) this week and delegates have begun the arduous task of negotiating the “outcome document” – a non-binding agreement on HIV/AIDS and care-giving that is the focus of this year’s session.  While the meetings have been closed to non-government organizations (NGOs), the United States (US) delegation has openly stated that “sexual and reproductive health and rights” would be a priority issue for the Obama administration.      At a briefing hosted by the United States, a member of the US delegation, Ellen Chesler, stated that it was a specific priority of the US delegation to ensure that “comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights” are included in the document. She added that they are a “fundamental part” of the Beijing Platform for Action of the 1995 UN women’s meeting held in Beijing, China, where countries ultimately rejected attempts to make abortion an international “right.”  The idea of sexual rights was rejected at the Beijing conference. Additionally, the term “sexual and reproductive health and rights” has been interpreted by radical feminist NGOs and some governments to include abortion.      Chesler, who authored a biography praising the work of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger,  also included “comprehensive sexual education, rights and services,” promotion of a new UN gender office, as well as US commitment to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)” as priority issues for the Obama administration at this CSW.      At the end of the briefing, an audience member questioned the Obama administration’s support for abortion despite the myriad scientific evidence which shows how detrimental it is to the lives and health of women. Chesler dismissed the woman’s question stating that the evidence is “unreliable because it has ideological elements.”      Another contentious provision in the draft CSW document calls on states to support the CEDAW committee’s non-binding “concluding comments.” 185 countries have ratified the convention, but language supporting the CEDAW committee’s concluding recommendations remains controversial.  The CEDAW committee has questioned more than 70 nations on their abortion laws even going so far as creating their own "general recommendation" that reads abortion into the document even though the nations that negotiated the treaty made sure that controversial issue was never mentioned.      Delegations are expected to battle it out over the CEDAW paragraph in negotiations this week over concerns that the committee is pressuring countries on abortion.  Some feminist NGOs at the CSW, however, already consider abortion an accepted part of CEDAW and have now set their sights on using the CEDAW committee to protect “lesbian rights” and same-sex “marriage.”      At an event commemorating 30 years of CEDAW, the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership claimed that CEDAW successfully established a “right to abortion” by linking it to “reproductive health.” Organizers argued that now the CEDAW committee should focus on protecting a “woman’s right to choose their partners,” which is not limited to members of the opposite sex.      The CSW will conclude in New York on Friday.   www.c-fam.org European Christian Party Abandons Pro-Life and Pro-Family Positions by Susan Yoshihara and Katharina Rothweiler      (NEW YORK – C-FAM)  The European Parliament's largest umbrella group backed away from its strong pro-life and pro-family positions in a new draft position statement for the 2009 European elections. Members of the mainly Christian Democrat group pushed back last week with a host of amendments aimed at restoring the organization's traditional role of safeguarding human life and the family at the European Parliament.      In a position statement released in January entitled "Draft EPP Election Document 2009," the European People's Party (EPP) removed some bedrock principles supporting traditional marriage and human life found in their 2004 position statement. The EPP is the largest group in the European Parliament with 288 members from 74 coalition parties, primarily Christian Democrat Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Members of the EPP will use the final version of the statement in the course of campaigning in the upcoming continent-wide elections, scheduled for the 4th through 7th of June.      According to the IONA Institute, an Ireland-based pro-life and pro-family non-governmental organization, the EPP dropped explicit opposition to "euthanasia, eugenics, human cloning" which it opposed in its 2004 statement, while retaining language defending "human life in all its forms (including embryos) and at all stages; to respect the human dignity in medical and genetic advancements." Similarly, the 2004 EPP document urged the European Union (EU) not to fund "biotechnological practices that are illegal to Member states," such as the current practice of the EU to fund embryonic stem-cell research.      The EPP's 2009 statement is also weaker on the protection of the traditional family, IONA says. Whereas the 2004 document pointed to the institution of marriage as a "unique tie of man and woman," the phrase was deleted from the 2009 draft text. Conversely, in its discussion of the “demographic winter” in Europe -- a graying population having too few children -- the new text adds a proposal that EU member states change national policies to recognize "the growing diversity in family relationships," a phrase conservatives warn can be interpreted to include homosexual "marriage."      National parties represented in the EPP have submitted proposed amendments to the text. A copy of proposed amendments obtained by the Friday Fax aims at restoring the strong pro-life and pro-family language deleted since the 2004 EPP statement. For example, one party proposes restoring references to protecting human dignity through a proper understanding of subsidiarity, a principle whereby decisions are made at the level closest to those affected by policy, and not by unaccountable bureaucrats and committees in Brussels.      Another proposed amendment focuses on replacing secular-humanist language in the 2009 text with explicit reference to Europe's Judeo-Christian heritage, arguing that while "there are of course other philosophical and political trends in Europe," it is through the Christian Democrats that "the Christian inspiration [of European culture] must be declared."      Final approval of text is scheduled for March 29th in Warsaw. Given the venue, the role of the Polish MEPs is thought to be pivotal and they are expected to lobby for a return to strong pro-life and pro-family statements.   Editor in Chief  –  Austin Ruse Managing Editor  –  Piero Tozzi Assistant Managing Editor  –  Hannah Russo Chief Correspondent  –  Samantha Singson Contributors  –  Susan Yoshihara / Katharina Rothweiler © Copyright 2009 Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.