Posted on 07/30/2002 10:34:07 AM PDT by kattracks
Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Tuesday for ratification of a controversial United Nations treaty opposed by a number of conservative women's groups.
The committee recommended ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) by a vote of 12 to seven. Republicans Gordon Smith (Ore.) and Lincoln Chafee (R.I.) crossed party lines to join all 10 committee Democrats in voting for the agreement.
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), chairman of the committee, said CEDAW "can be viewed as an international bill of rights."
"It sets out basic standards for women's rights, from the right to education to the right to equal employment opportunity to the right to equality under the law in marriage," Biden wrote with committee member Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in an op-ed piece published around the country Tuesday.
"Nearly 170 nations have joined the treaty, but the United States stands with the likes of Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Syria and Somalia in failing to ratify it," he wrote.
But Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), the ranking minority member of the committee, says the treaty is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
"Unfortunately, some are confusing the very clear moral imperative to secure basic freedoms and liberties for women with pretense that a need exists to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)," Helms wrote in a letter to Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) Monday.
"The documented radical agenda of the committee established by CEDAW is undisputed. (Among other things, that committee has directed China to legalize prostitution and has criticized Belarus for establishing Mother's Day.)," Helms added.
"Moreover, there can be no doubt that CEDAW supporters are attempting to use this treaty to advance a radical abortion agenda. This is evident in [CEDAW] committee reports directing Ireland to legalize abortion, and criticizing Ireland for the Church's influence in public policy," he concluded.
Biden and Boxer dismissed Helm's claim.
"Opponents warn that the treaty's call for universal access to family planning is really a disguised call for a right to abortion services. That is a charge with no basis in fact," the pair wrote in their op-ed.
"In 1994, the State Department certified that the treaty is abortion-neutral; that same year, the Committee on Foreign Relations agreed to a proposal, sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms, making clear that nothing in the treaty shall be construed as creating any right to an abortion," they added.
But Helms chastised the two for invoking his name inaccurately.
"I strongly disagree," he said, referring to the claim that CEDAW is "abortion neutral" because of his amendment. "The negotiated provision of my proposal was so watered-down, that the amendment would not result in CEDAW's radical abortion agenda being eliminated."
Helms noted that, despite the inclusion of a weakened version of his amendment, he voted against ratification of CEDAW in 1994 because of the pro-abortion nature of the treaty.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had written Biden, asking him to delay a vote on CEDAW while the department completes its review of "reservation, understandings, and declarations" the executive branch has with the language of the agreement, as well as its practical application by the U.N. implementation committee.
DOJ pointed to the same two examples Helms mentioned, expressing its reservations about the implementation committee.
"These are but two examples of the instances in which this committee has exploited CEDAW's vague text to advance positions contrary to American law and sensibilities," wrote Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant in a letter to Biden Friday.
Having passed the committee, the treaty can now be brought before the full Senate for ratification. A two-thirds majority, or 67 votes, would be required to ratify the treaty. No action is required in the House of Representatives.
Republican observers expect CEDAW to be brought up for a vote prior to the November mid-term elections, in an attempt to embarrass the Bush administration for its reservations about the vague language and implementation of the treaty.
E-mail a news tip to Jeff Johnson.
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That is a great idea! Define "family planning" and expose their true intentions through their reactions.
Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!
Molon Labe !!
But ... but ... This can't be true!!
8 Posted on 09/09/2000 07:48:03 PDT by Askel5
To: SnuffingtonLanguage is important.
Agreed.
the Body Politic
Vol. 01, No. 06 - June 1991, Page 8
Copyright © 1991, 1998 by the Body Politic Inc.
Title X - Quotable Quotes
Read My Lips!
We need to make population and family planning household words. We need to take the sensationalism out of this topic so that it can no longer be usedby militants who have no real knowledge of the voluntary nature of the program but, rather, are using it as a political stepping stone. If family planning is anything, it is a public health matter.
Rep. George Bush, 1969
Most important is that legislation be recognized as ... a health-care service mechanism and not a population control mechanism.
Rep. George Bush, 1970
As we amended the Social Security Act in 1967, I was impressed by the sensible approach of Alan Guttmacher, the obstetrician who served as president of Planned Parenthood. It was ridiculous, he told the committee, to blame mothers on welfare for having too many children when the clinics and hospitals they used were absolutely prohibited from saying a word about birth control. So we took the lead in Congress in providing money and urging -- in fact requiring -- that in the United States family planning services be available for every woman, not just the private patient with her own gynecologist.
George Bush (Foreword to World Population Crisis by Phyllis Piotrow), 1973
See also, Recommendations of the Task Force on Earth Resources and Population (George H. Bush, Chairman) for more Talking Points.
If the Terrorist Team of "Biden and Boxer" is FOR it.....
...then Every American should rally against it !! !! !!
Henry might even say so...
“ Today, Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow, they will be grateful. This is especially true, if they were told there was an outside threat from beyond – whether real or promogated – that threatened our very existence. It is then that all the peoples of the world will pledge with world leaders to deliver them from this evil. The one thing that every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished with the guarantee of their well-being, granted to them by their world government. ”— Henry Kissinger, 1991
Where did this come from; what's its history? Did Clintoon sign on to this? First the president has to sign the treaty then it goes to the Senate for ratification. Did the Executive branch get bypassed? That's unConstitional. What's going on?
Time for a veto.
Will we get it?
Cheers,
Richard F.
Neuter us all at birth and Utopia will be achieved for the NWO.
No, the treaty will not go to the President, and there is no opportunity for a veto. It was signed by a previous President, and will go into effect if it is ratified by a 2/3 vote of the Senate.
Classic - that's a keeper!
I don't know........but would appreciate a 'ping' if you find out.
Me too, please...hope so, and sounds likely...or else no possible way the Senate will ratify by a 2/3 vote...
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