Editor’s note. This analysis comes from the pro-life Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI)
Recognition of the sovereignty of national laws on abortion was critical to many countries during the recent 57th Commission on the Status of Women which met on the urgent theme “the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.” Negotiations were long and labored as some countries led by the US and the European Union attempted to use CSW as a vehicle to further the radical agenda, detracting from the noble goal of finding ways to protect girls and women from the violence that impacts their lives every day.
The final non-binding Agreed Conclusions consisted of a “chairman’s text” created by a select few owing to intense differences among countries on life and family issues. Among the concerns highlighted in the conclusions, the Commission condemned forced abortion which inflicts horrific cruelty and violence on millions of Chinese women yearly but failed to protest sex selective abortion- the very beginning of gender based violence- which has destroyed the lives of millions and millions of the youngest of girls.
Regrettably, embraced in the final conclusions are undefined problematic terms-reproductive rights, reproductive health and reproductive health centers-which are interpreted by some donor governments, pro-abortion NGOs and UN agencies to include access to abortion despite the fact that such terms have never been defined to include a “right to abortion” in any UN negotiated document or binding treaty.
In the context of addressing the “physical, mental and sexual and reproductive health consequences” of violence against women and girls, the conclusions also contained direct support for abortion in urging for the provision of “accessible health-care services” including “safe abortion where such services are permitted by national law”.
A number of countries with pro-life laws and restrictions insisted on the inclusion of the recognition of sovereignty and national laws on abortion in order to protect their laws banning or restricting abortion and to counter pro-abortion pressure. In addition, these countries relied on references that reproductive rights would be “in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development”; para 8.25 states: “Any measures or changes related to abortion within the health system can only be determined at the national or local level according to the national legislative process.”
PNCI recommends that pro-life lawmakers monitor the recommendations made to their countries by UN treaty monitoring bodies, the HRC, and by rapporteurs [investigators who report to a deliberative body] during country reviews to see which laws and policies on abortion are targeted for change, ignoring a country’s right to sovereignty according to the ICPD.
A link to select a country’s database of UN documents can be found on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.