Politics
Thursday July 22, 2004
See today's LifeSiteNews stories
Malta Stands Fast against UN Feminist Offensive
NEW YORK, July 22, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has met with the Maltese delegation to continue discussion of that country's compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Malta entered and maintains a set of 'reservations' to the full implementation of the treaty, which it ratified in 1991. Abortion is illegal in overwhelmingly Catholic Malta and the Maltese appear determined to keep it that way.
The Committee met again with the Maltese representatives on July 19th to hear replies to questions posed to it on July 13th. The Committee is putting the pressure on to adopt the so-called Optional Protocol of the treaty, which, once signed, would forbid Malta to make further reservations to the Commitee's demands, including abortion.
Sina Bugeja, of the Maltese Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity, said that it was not the Government's intention to transpose the Convention into domestic legislation. Bugeja noted that the Convention itself gave States the right to make reservations. She said that Malta was among over 55 States that had entered reservations to the Convention, and it was exercising its right as a sovereign State to do so. The Government was currently considering signing the Convention's Optional Protocol, she added.
However the UN 'experts' were not satisfied with the right of a sovereign state to make laws according to the wishes of its population. A UN report of the meeting shows the gathered experts pressuring the Maltese to "reconsider" their reservations about instituting abortion on demand. Committee Vice-Chairperson Heisoo Shin, the expert from the Republic of Korea urged the Maltese delegation to adopt the Optional Protocol.
Bugeja responded that one reservation had been entered to allow for legislation considered necessary to protect the health and safety of the woman or the human fetus. Furthermore, Bugeja was forthright in saying that the reservation to article 16 on marriage and family life had been intended to leave no room for interpreting the provisions of that article as an obligation by Malta to legalize abortion.
Read previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/jul/04071503.html
ph
Back to TopSHARE THIS STORY: E-mail Print Newsvine Digg Reddit Del.icio.us Facebook
Latest Headlines
- Brazilian Psychologists Prohibited from Helping Catholic Church Screen Out Homosexual Priesthood Candidates
- Poll Shows a Solid Majority of Canadians Want Legal Protection for Unborn Children
- Terri-Schiavo-Like Disabled Woman Allowed to Live after Parents Reconcile
- California Supreme Court to Hear Anti-Prop. 8 Cases
- Arnold Schwarzenegger's Wife: I'm "a Catholic in Good Standing" But Also Pro-abortion and Pro-Homosexual
- US Election Message to Catholic Bishops Part III: The Broken Window Strategy
- London Couple Refused for Adoption over Spanking...Again
- Ontario School Board Flip Flops on HPV Vaccine Decision
- Vatican Cardinal: "A New World Order is Gaining Ground"
- German Court Orders Children to Be Returned to Homeschooling Family against State Advice
- The View Co-Host Calls Homeschoolers “Demented”
- Donate to LifeSiteNews.com Simply by Surfing the Internet!
- French Academy Elects Author of Legal Abortion as Newest Member
- Court Orders Approval of Ariz. ‘Choose Life’ License Plates
- Letters to the Editor for Thursday, November 20, 2008
Most Read this Week
- Italian Nuns Refuse to Kill Eluana
- Lawsuits Proliferate Demanding Proof of Obama's Natural-Born Citizenship before Electoral Vote Count
- Charleston Priest Tells Obama-Supporting Catholics to Confess before Receiving Communion Again
- Christian Prayer Group Sexually and Physically Assaulted by Homosexual Mob
- Mormons, Knights of Columbus Face Chilling Threats and More Vandalism for Prop. 8 Support
- The Coming "War" Between the Obama Administration and the Catholic Church
- Update: Nationwide Homosexual Anarchist Organization Behind Attack on MI Church Planning Further Disruptions
- HLI Leader's Reflection on the Election: "The Beginning of the Twilight of Our Country"
- Martin Luther King's Niece: Obama Election Heals "White Guilt" at the Cost of Life and Family
- Canada’s Health Care System heading for “Demographic Blowout” with Aging Population: Study
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.