UN Human Rights Commission Proceedings Update: Resolution on Special Rapporteur Paul Hunt’s Report

GENEVA, April 19, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The United Nations Human Rights Commission convention in Geneva is wrapping up, with this being the final week. This week will see voting on more than 200 resolutions that have been tabled over the last several weeks.  In a press release today, the UN revealed the results of a vote taken on whether Paul Hunt’s report, On the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health, would be accepted. The highly criticized report called for the promotion of “reproductive rights” for women – a UN euphemism for abortion, contraception, and sterilization. Fifty-two states voted in favour of accepting the report, with only one member state opposed—the United States of America.  The press release stated, “the Commission urged States to take steps to the maximum of their available resources to achieve this right for everyone…to place a gender perspective at the centre of all policies and programs affecting women’s health…to protect and promote sexual and reproductive health.”  The vote was as follows, in favour (52): Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bhutan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mauritania, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.  Against (1): United States.  Pro-family groups felt so strongly about making the point that Special Rapporteur Paul Hunt had completely overstepped his mandate, that these groups urged the U.S. to call for a vote on the specific paragraph outlining reproductive health alone. Pro-family groups, including Campaign Life Coalition among others, spent the latter part of last week lobbying members of the Commission to vote in favour of deleting the paragraph. Despite all their hard work, when the vote happened, it wasn’t even close. But the point was made that pro-family groups didn’t appreciate the work of the Special Rapporteur Paul Hunt. The final numbers were 13 for deletion, 36 against and 4 abstentions.  See Paul Hunt’s complete report with the innocuous sounding title “The right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” at https://www.unhchr.ch/pdf/chr60/49AV.pdf   See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage, “UN Human Rights Commission: “Reproductive Rights” to Eliminate Poverty?”  https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/apr/04040104.html