United Families International, Pro-Family Coalition Split EU,
Defeat Abortion Rights Movement
March 11, 2008
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one that is dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. Every year, representatives of member states gather at United Nations, in New York, to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and the advancement of women worldwide.
As a non-governmental organization (NGO) with consultative status for ECOSOC, United Families International annually attends the Commission on the Status of Women conference to stand in defense of families. Last week at CSW, our pro-family coalition helped split the European Union (EU) and defeat an attempt to register abortion rights as approved United Nations policy.
The anti-family/anti-life forces at the United Nations set things in motion when they persuaded Norway to introduce a proposal to include in the CSW outcome document the phrase “sexual and reproductive health and rights” – code language for abortion.
Our coalition went to work. First, we found delegations opposed to the Norway proposal. Then, we went to UFI’s book, “United Nations Negotiating Guide” to select language from past UN documents containing language supporting the unborn. We prepared charts (see below) demonstrating that reproductive health issues were responsible for only 16 percent of maternal deaths (2004) — directly refuting Norway’s assertion that poor sexual and reproductive health is a leading cause of death in the developing world. We took our information to delegates who used it to prevent the abortion proposal from gaining UN consensus.
A representative of the European Union discovered a split in his coalition and he announced that the union could not unanimously lend its support to Norway’s proposal. It is highly unusual for the European Union to split on social issues. Most of its members are socially liberal countries.
Additional nations came out of the woodwork to support the unborn. El Salvador, Syria, Iran, Kiribati, the United States and the Holy See (the delegation of the Vatican) all called for removal of Norway’s pro-abortion proposal. Without complete consensus, the abortion language withered and died.
This is an international battle we keep fighting over and over. As long as anti-family/anti-life forces introduce proposals threatening families, marriage, life and freedom, we will be there to actively defend family and life with our allies. We will be present at important United Nations conferences again later this year.
By fighting delegations that refuse to demonstrate respect for family, life, marriage and freedom, we are helping to maintain freedom and dignity for the most vulnerable and defenseless persons in your communities. Freedom comes with a price, and we need your financial help to monitor the opposition’s moves and then counter them with social science research and the documentation of the UN’s declarations. Will you please help us today with a generous donation? Thank you.