Volume 3, Number 28

June 2, 2000

Veiled in Secrecy, UN "Reproductive Rights" Talks Alarm Conservatives

By Austin Ruse

     (NEW YORK - C-FAM)  In its official pronouncements the United Nations insists upon what is termed "transparency" which means all meetings should be open at least to limited public view. The reality at the ongoing Beijing+5 negotiations falls well short of the rhetoric. As days of talks for the new Beijing+5 document grind on, the most important meetings are taking place in secret.

     In most UN meetings, officially recognized non-governmental organizations (NGO) have open access, not just to watch but also to assist governmental delegations in the negotiating process. Since NGOs are closed out for now, conservatives say these final days of meetings are more akin to backroom political deals than to the openness of the democratic process. Moreover, no record is made of these proceedings so that the citizens will never know what their governments have proposed.

     An additional problem for pro-family forces is that the UN is not providing translation services for governmental delegations in the closed meetings. This works to a serious disadvantage for non-English speaking delegations because they are forced to negotiate in a second or third language but also because the "reproductive rights" terms come mostly from western feminists and are not easy to understand. It is understood that left-wing delegations rely on murky language to trick non-English speaking delegations.

     On Monday thousands of feminists will converge on UN headquarters in New York City for the Special Session of the General Assembly that is expected to ratify whatever document comes from these ongoing talks. As it stands, the document is being held up by serious disagreements over the controversial topics of "reproductive and sexual rights."

     Conservatives are most concerned with a new provision advanced by Mexico, the United States and the European Union that calls for abortion to be "more accessible." Pro-life countries believe this violates the terms of the original Beijing Platform for Action as well as the Cairo Program of Action, both of which called for concerted efforts to reduce the number of abortions.

     The new language also requires all health service providers to perform abortions even if it would violate their religious beliefs. This would even apply to countries that do not allow abortion under any circumstances. Conservatives consider these an assault on religious freedom and national sovereignty.

     The spread of abortion is also called for in the paragraph on women's health: "Some women continue to encounter barriers to their right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including sexual and reproductive health," says proposed language in the document. The document also calls for abortion for adolescent girls: "Adolescents, particularly adolescent girls continue to lack access to sexual and reproductive health information, education and service/care." The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as including abortion, and defines adolescence as beginning at ten years old.

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