Abortion Advocates Suffer Major Defeat at Beijing + 5

Pro-Life and Pro-Family Coalition Stops Expansion of Abortion " Rights"

By Jeanne E. Head, R.N.

In the early hours of June 10, the Clinton/Gore Administration and its Western allies suffered a major and largely unexpected defeat at the United Nations.

Thanks to the persistence and determination of pro-life and pro- family forces, their attempts to foist even more of the pro- abortion agenda on the developing world failed decisively. The stunning setback occurred at the culmination of the Special Session of the General Assembly convened in the UN Headquarters June 5-9 for the five-year review of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, known as "Beijing + 5."

The purpose of Beijing + 5 was supposed to be a review to evaluate the implementation to date of the Beijing "Platform for Action" and to explore further actions and initiatives. However, led by the Clinton/Gore Administration and the European Union, pro-abortion Western nations and some dissident Latin American country delegates attempted to use this review process to go beyond what was agreed to at Beijing in order to further advance their radical pro-abortion agenda - - all the while falsely accusing the pro-life and pro-family delegations of trying to " roll back" women's rights.

The agenda, breathtaking in its reach, included (among other things) promoting the equipping and training of health service providers to perform abortions without any consideration of their rights of conscience; increasing access to abortion, sexual, and reproductive rights (including abortion) for adolescents as young as 10 without parental involvement; and further advancing the campaign to make abortion a fundamental " human right" worldwide. If successful, this latter initiative would bypass the sovereignty of the close to 100 nations that currently provide some measure of protection for unborn children.

The pro-life and pro-family delegations representing countries from all the regions of the world, most of whom had taken strong reservations to the original document that came out of Beijing five years ago, fought to hold the line against an onslaught of radical language introduced by the U.S. and others. This defensive posture was necessary even though the General Assembly had mandated that the Beijing language was not to be re- negotiated.

The pro-life and pro-family delegations, mostly from the developing world with few delegates, held out against exhaustion, extreme pressure, and coercion.

When the pressure was the greatest, at a crucial juncture at mid- week, the pro-life and pro-family non-governmental organization (NGO) coalition held a press conference to charge the Western countries with "cultural imperialism" and with holding up the document by pressing their radical pro-abortion agenda on the developing world.

Additional, highly helpful pressure came in the final days of the conference. A letter was issued by 30 U.S. congressmen condemning the Clinton Administration's positions. Similar letters were issued by conservative members of the European and Canadian Parliaments.

The battle became one of endurance with grueling marathon sessions that lasted into the early morning hours. The culmination was an all-night session after which a final agreement was reached.

Faced with the strong possibility of complete failure and no document at all, "ground rules" were set by the leaders of the conference. These more accurately reflected and restored what had long been the saving grace and the true spirit of "consensus" at the UN prior to 1994.

It was decided that if no agreement could be reached, similar previously agreed UN language or language from the Beijing document would be accepted. Failing that, it was agreed that if three or more nations moved to delete, the contentious language would be deleted.

These rules led to a resounding defeat on the crucial paragraphs relating to abortion.

The small band of pro-life and pro-family NGO delegates was the victim of pressure and harassment. Though vastly outnumbered, they provided a strong and much-appreciated support system for the pro-life and pro-family country delegates. Small delegations especially needed their help. With only one to three people they were trying to cover up to three meetings that were occurring simultaneously. The courage and dedication of these delegates was inspiring.

Beijing + 5 ended 24 hours late with a Plenary of the General Assembly on June 10. Reflecting the disagreements and the need to be certain that there was no misinterpretation of language, many countries made reservations and interpretative statements. The U.S. delegation, among other things, complained about deletion of abortion-related language that stated "health systems should train and equip health service providers and should take other measures to ensure that such abortion is safe and accessible." They did not mention "rights of conscience."

The pro-life and pro-family forces, in spite of sleep deprivation and exhaustion, walked into the early morning dawn with a lightness of step and a sense of accomplishment on Saturday morning. However, all are well aware that this was only one battle in the long fight to restore protection for the dignity and worth of every human being on earth no matter how small.

Jeanne E. Head, R.N., is National Right to Life's representative at the UN, a member of the NRLC Executive Committee, serves as the United Nations Representative for the International Right to Life Federation, and represents New York State Right to Life on the NRLCBoard of Directors.