Leftists are asking, 'What will we do about the U.S.? '

Townhall ^ | March 3, 2005 | Janice Shaw Crouse

[Crackingham]

A group is distributing labels to stick on notebooks and backpacks at the meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations in New York. The CSW is commemorating the 10th anniversary of the historic conference on women held in Beijing in 1995, and the name of the labels' sponsor - Beijing and Beyond - indicates a continued passion for the documents that came out of that conference. The labels feature a huge eye in the left corner underscored by this slogan: "The Women of the World are Watching." The center of the labels features a demand -- "Reaffirm the Platform" -- or a question -- "What will we do about the U.S.?"

"What to do about the U.S.?" is quickly becoming the question driving Beijing +10. The United States delegation is continuing to frustrate radical feminists by resisting the Far Left agenda that the United Nations has been aggressively promoting worldwide since the First World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975.

The United States has introduced a statement for the working draft of the Beijing +10 Declaration that is causing an uproar. The U.S. asks delegates to "reaffirm that [the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (PFA)] do not create any new international human rights and that they do not include the right to abortion."

Why is this statement so controversial?

Imagine 8,000 people crowding into the U.N.'s New York headquarters, and at least 7,000 of them are pro-abortion. Support is overwhelming for a statement coming out of the late Bella Abzug's organization, the Women's Economic Development Organization (WEDO): "Beijing's been betrayed!" Indeed, feelings about abortion run so strong that there are rumors that, once again, there's a risk of a CSW ending without consensus.

(The first and only time a CSW ended without consensus was in 2003 when the conference could not agree with the U.S. position that prostitution is inherently harmful to women. President Bush appointed me as a U.S. delegate that year when we fought the radicals to a standstill.)

The Left has used the Beijing outcome documents -- which are technically "non-binding agreements" -- to promote abortion around the world. Radical feminists have blatantly distorted the intent and reality of the Beijing PFA to say that a woman's "right" to an abortion is a basic human right, as delineated in Beijing, the Cairo +5 conference and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

[Paul Atreides]

Interesting, how the same people who do not want democracy in Iraq want unlimited abortion all over the world.

[Harpo Speaks]

The colorful, well-designed magazine is named Zurwat al-Sanam, Arabic for "The Tip of the Camel's Hump"

I have a new name for them: "The Tip of the Camel's Dump."

[dufekin]

Ridiculous. But remember, even unratified international treaties not involving the United States do supersede our Constitution, so this is extremely important. Even if we pass a Constitutional amendment to ban feticide, that amendment itself would be unconstitutional.

[Lorianne]

The think I don't understand is that most of the world's women' are NOT ASKING for abortion as a "right".

It seems like cultural imperialism to me to force the abortion agenda on cultures where it is not wanted and not perceived as a need. Many women in developing nations need very very basic things, like access to clean water, basic medical care, legal protection and equal legal treatment. Abortion, if it was wanted at all, would be like no. 567 on the list.

[TheHound]

Let me introduce a poser. What is the Islamic position on abortion? I will bet a cup of coffee it is not allowed.

[Erik Latranyi]

The thing I don't understand is that most of the world's women' are NOT ASKING for abortion as a "right".

Aw, c'mon, every woman in a Burkha secretly wants the right to abortion. It's foremost on their minds!

/sarcasm

[Drew68]

Let me introduce a poser. What is the Islamic position on abortion? I will bet a cup of coffee it is not allowed.

From Ask the Imam:

"According to the understanding of one Hadith, the soul enters the body on the 120 day upon conception. The Fuqahaa have ruled that it is prohibited to abort after that, irrespective of any circumstances. To abort before 120 days without a reason valid and acceptable in Shari’ah.

A reason valid and acceptable in Shari’ah, can only be ruled by an upright, pious and competent Mufti.

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best"

Mufti Ebrahim Desai

[Drew68]

For further clarification, go here.

Basically, it is allowed before 120 days after conception.

[TheHound]

Do you prefer Kona, Columbian, Jamaican or West African? - coffee that is.

[talosiv]

What did they do to determine that three months was the limit ? Spin a wheel ?

-R

[Bogtrotter52]

Folgers classic roast......With LOTS AND LOTS of Carolans

[carl in alaska]

Pro-life bump.

[ozzymandus]

Who's paying for this?

[Uncle Miltie]

Q: "What will we do about the U.S.?"

A: Leave it.

[Drew68]

Do you prefer Kona, Columbian, Jamaican or West African? - coffee that is.

I like the flavored crap. I drink the stuff you grind yourself at the grocery store. French vanilla mixed with caramel. Good stuff! I drink a lot of coffee. I drink coffee like I drink booze which is why I no longer drink booze anymore.

Yeah, I was a bit surprised myself with what I found out from that site. I was expecting abortion only to be permissable among infidels.

[Blue Collar Christian]

"Yep, that's what we need to be worried about, abortion.

The way leftists use the procedure, if it weren't for goofy college professors they would be a lot fewer in number.

How about attacking the Muslim world for THEIR treatment of women?"

You act as though you believe the U.N. is even PRETENDING to make this a better world.

[nonliberal]

Arabic for "The Tip of the Camel's Hump"

That's better than the original title, "We Hump Camels."