ACTION REQUEST

Urge Your Senators to Reject the Pro-Abortion CEDAW Treaty!

WASHINGTON (Sept. 3, 2002) -- The U.S. Senate may vote in September or October on a treaty to ban broadly defined " discrimination" against women -- a treaty that has been interpreted to condemn any limitations on abortion.

On July 30, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12 to 7 to recommend that the full Senate ratify a treaty called the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (pronounced "SEE-daw").

The full Senate could vote on the treaty at any time. Democrats currently hold majority control in the Senate by a single seat, 51-49. Nearly all of the chamber's Democrats have endorsed the CEDAW. However, many Republican senators (and a few Democrats) have never taken a position on it.

It would require a two-thirds vote to ratify the CEDAW treaty, or 67 senators (if every senator votes). According to the New York Times (July 31), "Treaty supporters said their initial vote counts indicated that they were still at least 3 votes shy of 67. Some Democrats said that if ratification was not assured, they would not want to bring the treaty to the floor this fall."

NRLC strongly opposes ratification of CEDAW because it has been construed by UN agencies, by the European Parliament, and by pro- abortion litigators in the United States to be inconsistent with any limitations on abortion.

For further information on CEDAW, please see "Senators May Vote on Pro-Abortion Treaty" in the August edition of National Right to Life News, page 14, and visit the NRLC website's Legislative Action Center at www.nrlc.org. At the website, you can send a free e-mail to each of your U.S. senators, urging them to oppose CEDAW.

You can also send your senators a message by telephone (through the Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121), or by fax (the fax numbers for many Senate offices are provided at the NRLC Legislative Action Center). Because of security procedures, there are often long delays in the delivery and counting of regular mail on Capitol Hill, so e-mail, phone, and fax communications are highly recommended.

Whatever methods you choose, you should make it clear that you are a constituent, urge the senator to "oppose the CEDAW treaty," and ask for a written response explaining the senator's position.

If you receive a response regarding CEDAW from any senator, please forward it to NRLC at Legfederal@aol.com, fax it to 202- 347-3668, or mail it to NRLC, Federal Legislation Dept., 512- 10th Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20004.

For more information on the pro-abortion effects of CEDAW, see letters sent by NRLC to the Senate on July 15 and July 29, posted at http://www.nrlc.org/ Federal/ForeignAid/index.html.