UN Commission Approves Declaration Reaffirming Goals of 1995 Women's Conference After U.S. Drops Antiabortion Amendment

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 08 Mar 2005 - 3:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

The 45-member... U.N. Commission on the Status of Women on Friday unanimously approved a one-page declaration supporting the Platform for Action adopted at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing after the United States dropped an amendment that would have clarified that the platform does not include a right to abortion or create any new international human rights, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (Lederer, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 3/5). The U.N. commission at the end of last month -- ahead of a two-week review of the conference, which began last week -- proposed a declaration asking the participating countries to reaffirm progress toward the Beijing platform, which stated that abortion should be safe in places where it is legal and that criminal charges should not be filed against any woman who undergoes an illegal abortion. The platform also stated that women have the right to "decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality ... free of coercion, discrimination and violence." Bush administration representatives at first said the United States would not sign the declaration because of concerns that the platform classified legal abortion as a human right and proposed an amendment that would reaffirm U.S. commitment to the platform and declaration "while reaffirming that they do not create any new international human rights and that they do not include the right to abortion." However, most member nations rejected even a "watered down" version of the U.S. amendment, with delegates from the European Union, African Union and Mercosur trading bloc in South America all insisting that the declaration remain in its original form (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 3/4).

U.S. Drops Amendment, Declares Victory
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Ellen Sauerbrey on Friday said the U.S. delegation would drop its amendment after "receiving assurances" that the platform approved at the 1995 conference does not create "a new global right to abortion," the AP/Chronicle reports (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 3/5). "We have heard from countries that our interpretation is their interpretation," Sauerbrey said at a news conference, adding, "So the amendment, we recognize, is really redundant, but it has accomplished its goals" (Lynch, Washington Post, 3/5). Charlotte Bunch, executive director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership, said the amendment was "an effort to inject U.S. politics into a broad international consensus," adding, "The reality is that [the United States] heard loud and clear the voices of 6,000 women here [at the conference] saying 'No,' echoing millions of other women worldwide" (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 3/5).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/repro The Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations