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United States Presses Ahead with Anti-Abortion Amendment at UN

Media reports that US is backing down are not correct

UNITED NATIONS, March 3, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Contrary to reports by the New York Times, Reuters and countless other news agencies, the United States is not backing down from its amendment to clarify that the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action do not call for the right to abortion.

At a press briefing this morning, Antonia Kirkland from the pro-abortion NGO Equality Now asked U.S. Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey, head of the U.S. delegation, if the US was withdrawing its amendment as reported by the New York Times. Ambassador Sauerbrey responded, “No.” She noted that the US would continue to work to pass the document to reaffirm the Beijing Declaration with its clarifying amendment.

Samantha Singson, a pro-life lobbyist at the United Nations representing Campaign Life Coalition, told LifeSiteNews.com that at a US NGO Caucus meeting, angry feminist activists hoped to force the US to withdraw its amendment by presenting a petitions signed by some 320 US organizations. They claimed that the US Ambassador did not represent her constituency and that the proposed US amendment did not represent the views of civil society.

However, in less than twelve hours the NGO pro-life and pro-family coalition was able to present over 800 letters from organizations around the world which support the US delegation’s amendment.

Austin Ruse of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Action League (C-Fam) noted that over 500,000 emails from over 50 countries have come into the various UN missions in support of the US amendment.

In her statement to the UN Commission on the Status of Women yesterday, Ambassador Sauerbrey was clear that the US concerns over abortion remained. “As colleagues in this meeting know, the United States has had concerns about efforts to mischaracterize the outcome documents of Beijing and Beijing+5 in creation of new international rights. It is clear that there was no intent on the part of States supporting the Beijing documents to create new rights . . . including the right to abortion,” she said.

She added, “The United States recognizes the International Conference on Population and Development principle that abortion policies are a matter of national sovereignty. And, we are pleased that so many other governments have indicated their agreement with this position.”

See later in the day update to this story:
US Abortion Amendment to UN Beijing +10 Document Fails to Achieve Consensus - Update to previous story
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/mar/05030307.html

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