Liberals Push Women's Treaty

Document gives U.N. committee authority to dictate family policy.

Senate Democrats may be on the verge of resurrecting a treaty that could be used to require U.S. compliance with liberal policies, such as a right to abortion and legalization of prostitution. The treaty -- the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) -- was signed by President Carter in 1980, but was never ratified by the U.S. Senate and has been in limbo ever since. More than 180 countries have ratified the treaty, which established a United Nations committee to monitor participation in CEDAW .

"What happens is that each of these countries has to appear before a panel of 'experts' at the United Nations… to explain how they are implementing the treaty," said Austin Ruse, who heads the Washington, D.C., office of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. The committee monitors everything from relationships between husbands and wives, to educational content in the schools, to employment and hiring practices --- even how many women are elected to local state and national offices.

Abortion is a key issue for the committee. "They have directed 37 countries to change their laws on abortion," Ruse said. "What we could easily see, if we ratify CEDAW, is pressure to strike down parental-notification laws, to strike down laws against partial-birth abortion, to strike down any regulation on abortion drugs ..."

Abortion isn't the only issue the committee has spoken on. It also directed China to legalize prostitution -- even though the treaty condemns it. They directed Kyrgyzstan to legalize lesbianism," Ruse said. "They criticized Belarus for establishing Mother's Day because they said Mother's Day promotes 'a negative cultural stereotype.' They directed Libya to reinterpret the Koran to fall within committee guidelines. They criticized Ireland for allowing the Catholic Church to have too great a say in public policy." [Read More]Contact your senators! Contact your representatives!

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