UN Conference Stalls Over Parental Rights, Teen Sex and National Sovereignty
One month following the United Nations’ Hague Forum, national delegates from 177 countries convened in New York City to negotiate a final document on population for the UN General Assembly. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)held in Cairo, called for a twenty year implementation schedule with five year reviews. The Hague draft provided a discussion basis for the first technical review known as ICPD+5.
Pro-family observers have raised grave concerns over the attempt by population control proponents to insert new "rights based language" into review documents prepared for the United Nations General Assembly. Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Nafis Sadik, addressed the opening session and instructed delegates that the Cairo Conference "established beyond doubt that basic human rights include the right to reproductive health." No such "right" has ever been acknowledged in international law.
Nations debated serious areas of conflict, chiefly the redefinition of human rights to include "reproductive health and rights," the code phrase for abortion on demand. "Emergency contraception," teen sexual "rights," parental rights and national sovereignty completed the chapters of the document under dispute. If the inclusion of "sexual and reproductive rights" were to be slipped under the umbrella of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights once sovereign nations could be required to legislate universal abortion on demand and adolescent sexual freedoms or suffer UN sanction. Nations declared guilty of UN human rights violations risk loss of international aid and World Bank loans for infrastructure improvements. Minus critical telecommunications and road systems, developing countries cannot compete in the global marketplace. An Islamic delegate observed, "Some nations see what is happening, here. But others do not see the big stick behind the carrot of international aid."
Early on the Vatican delegation objected to "emergency contraception"—the popular "morning after pill." The delegation referred to medical evidence which reveals that emergency contraceptive pills work by preventing implantation of the fertilized egg, which is an abortive effect. Bishop James McHugh, deputy head of the Holy See delegation, recalled that the Cairo POA specifically prohibits abortion as a means of family planning., and certainly not as an "exercise of an undefined and nebulous reproductive right." As the Holy See fought their battle on the floor of the plenary session, dissident Catholics led by Frances Kissling of Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC) drew media attention with the promotion of a postcard campaign calling for a formal UN review of the permanent observer status of the Holy See. CFFC, which is funded by the Ted Turner and Playboy Foundations, wants the Vatican’s status rescinded.
Pro-abortion CFFC was a star feature at the Hague Forum as well. Ms. Kissling was again joined by former priest Anthony Padavano, founder of Corpus, an organization for dissident married priests. Approximately 100 people crowded into the conference room at the UN Church Centre, across from the UN complex, including newsmen. Kissling announced that many non-government organizations (NGOs) from 70 countries had endorsed her postcard campaign. CFFC first circulated their demand for Vatican removal at the Beijing Conference in 1995. However, though CFFC reports the participation of NGOs, no national delegations have joined Kissling’s initiative.
Frustrated, a Catholic man rose to question Kissling. He finally resorted to demanding she cease referring to herself as Catholic since she held none of the Catholic beliefs. Ms. Kissling’s reply consisted of a boast that she was a full member of the Catholic Church as her bishop had not forbidden the sacraments to her. Kissling continued her efforts to win converts to her campaign by declaring that she did believe the Church had much to offer in the field of social justice. The basis of the CFFC argument for reducing the Vatican to the same status as CFFC—an NGO--is that the UN is a secular system and ought not grant membership to a religious entity. As a "permanent observer" the Holy See is not a voting member of the UN.
Vatican attempts to insure parental rights ignited a dramatic debate which pitted the European Union, Canada and the USA against the Holy See and the Group of 77 (G-77) a coalition of 133 developing countries. Mexico supported the US and EU position. Msgr. James Reinert and John Klink of the Holy See delegation repeatedly stressed the right of parents to determine appropriate sex education for their children. Argentina, a stalwart defender of the pro-family platform, Panama and the Vatican received a boost from aggravated Moroccan, Sudanese and Syrian delegates who resisted the demands of conference chair, Chowdhury, who urged nations to compromise for the sake of reaching consensus.
At one point an exasperated Sudanese responded to Chowdhury, "Be respectful of our societies—do not lecture our countries." The same delegate, responded to the statement read into the record by a Youth Forum delegate who demanded sexual rights for teens, "You want to see real youth? I will bring my own children to this assembly so you can see children who respect their families and their society." Part of the dismay for traditional cultures were calls for "peer education" of sexual rights for teens, including a universal right to sexual freedom and abortion for girls from 10 to 18 years, old irrespective of culture and national laws.
As the week wore on negotiations stalled. Key issues included a measure introduced by the Vatican, the "conscience" clause, which would permit medical personnel to decline to perform procedures they found morally objectionable without penalty. Senior US delegate, Margaret Pollack, led a fight to exclude the conscience clause. Despite working into the early morning hours for two consecutive nights, the New York Preparatory conference was adjourned without reaching a consensus. According to Austin Ruse of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, the failure to finalize the document is a positive development for pro-family advocates. The document will be taken up again in late May or in the days just prior to the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly scheduled for June 30-July2.
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MJ Anderson 4/4/99This item 949 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
