Senate ponders pro-abortion CEDAW. (News in Brief).

In August the U.S. Senate considered ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). If ratified by a two-thirds majority, CEDAW, the controversial UN women's treaty, would eventually impact local law. At the time of writing, no final decision had been made by the Senate. The massive phoning campaign organized by prolife and pro-family organizations was certainly notable.

The CEDAW compliance committee is considered by the UN to be its most "ideological." It interprets the treaty, reading radical anti-family and anti-religion ideologies into the text.

Though CEDAW claims that it has nothing to do with abortion, since the term is not explicitly mentioned in the treaty, evidence proves the contrary.

The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP), in collaboration with the CEDAW Committee, has been pressuring Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and other Latin American countries to implement more liberal abortion laws. The CRLP recommended that these governments revise their laws to ensure that women have access to "safe" abortion.

Although CEDAW's pressure is initially somewhat informal, it is especially felt by countries that depend upon the UN for the financing of urgently needed human aid programmes.

In the U.S., the CEDAW Committee has been pressuring the States for a number of years to legalize prostitution and remove all obstacles to any and every reproductive service, thereby including abortion. The obstacles listed include high fees; requirement for preliminary authorization by an authority such as a spouse, parent, or hospital; and lengthy distance to abortion facilities. Not only is CEDAW in favour of abortion-on-demand, but it demands that states finance all abortions and even pay clients for transportation to the clinics.

CEDAW views motherhood as an obstacle to women's professional and individual development, and therefore fights against it. It was CEDAW that succeeded in having Belarus cancel Mother's Day. It criticized Singapore for emphasizing the importance of the family, attacked Ireland for restricting abortion and allowing the Catholic Church too much influence, and urged China to legalize prostitution. The list of similar agitations worldwide goes on.

While CEDAW attacks family and religion, and seeks the elimination of distinctions between men and women in schools and churches and throughout society, some (naively) perceive CEDAW to be crucial to women's equality.

If ratified by the U.S. Senate, the CEDAW would certainly have greater status and influence amidst the nations of the UN. And, in the U.S. itself, the impact would be felt.

CEDAW is a threat to the national sovereignty of any nation. A country which ratifies must submit periodic reports, 'which are then analyzed by CEDAW "experts."

According to these experts, even exceptionally "progressive" Denmark has not been living up to the standards. CEDAW's expectations included a greater reversal of traditional male and female roles in the workplace and in the home, absurd laws promoting prostitution, the citing of the treaty in the country's courts, and the like.

Canada ratified CEDAW on Dec. 10, 1981. (With files from C-Fam and Friday Fax).

It is dismaying that Canadian prolife representatives find that the Canadian delegation is their worst enemy.