[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 22 (Wednesday, March 2, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E340-E341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   THE 1995 BEIJING PLATFORM OF ACTION CONTAINS NO RIGHT TO ABORTION

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 2, 2005

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely clear that the 
``Programme of Action'' produced by both the 1994 Cairo Population 
Conference and the 1995 Beijing Women's Conference did not create, 
adopt, endorse, or promote a right to abortion.
  I know. I was there in an official capacity at both conferences. The 
outcomes of both were a remarkable victory for the pro-life movement--
those of us who recognize that all human life is sacred and that both 
legal and illegal abortion is violence against children and the 
exploitation of women. It was a victory for vulnerable unborn children 
who would be killed by dismemberment and chemical poisoning and for 
women who deserve better than the cruelty of abortion.
  The outcome was a stunning defeat for the Clinton Administration, 
which sought to impose an international right to abortion on the entire 
world.
  So why is the Bush Administration seeking to reaffirm that the 
Beijing consensus did not include a right to abortion? Because clarity, 
transparency and truthfulness is needed at this time to dispel a 
pernicious myth--the big lie--promoted by some that these U.N. 
documents now endorse abortion. Nothing, Mr. Speaker, could be further 
from the truth.
  Over the past 10 years, pro-abortionists have sought to convey the 
impression that both Cairo and Beijing--by supporting reproductive 
health, for example--includes the slaughter of unborn children by 
abortion.
  Instead of focusing on women's economic and political empowerment, an 
end to all forms and manifestations of discrimination, and an end to 
violence against women, some have sought to distort the Cairo and 
Beijing consensus to include the killing of girls and boys by abortion.
  Yesterday I chaired a hearing on the horrific behavior of U.N. 
Peacekeepers in the Congo who have raped and sexually exploited girls 
and young women. As the prime sponsor of the ``Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act of 2000'' I take a backseat to no one in promoting 
women's human rights. Recent scandals, like the Congo or the oil for 
food scandal, begs the question of honesty and transparency at the U.N.
  Despite having no mandate to promote abortion, the U.N. Compliance 
Committee for the Convention on All Forms of Discrimination Against 
Women (CEDAW) has recently scolded Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, 
Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Uruguay, 
Portugal, Nepal, Northern Ireland, Lichtenstein, Paraguay, and Samoa 
for their laws and policies on abortion.

  In addition, at the end of 2004, the U.N. Human Rights Committee 
issued a report that absolutely overstepped its bounds and told Poland 
to repeal their pro-life laws. The report stated, ``The State party 
should liberalize its legislation and practice on abortion.'' For a 
U.N. committee that purported to respect fundamental human rights to 
condemn Poland--and others--for protecting their unborn babies is 
scandalous. Unborn children deserve respect in law and in practice--
these littlest of humans deserve to have their basic human rights 
protected.
  A Center for Reproductive Rights internal document talks about 
reinterpreting terms and phrases in international declarations, like 
the Cairo and Beijing documents, to promote abortion and limit parental 
rights throughout the world. I posted in the December 8, 2003 
Congressional Record the Center for Reproductive Rights internal 
documents where one of their trustees said, ``We have to fight harder, 
be a little dirtier.'' These papers reveal a Trojan Horse of deceit. In 
their own words, these documents demonstrate how abortion promotion 
groups are pushing abortion here and abroad, not by direct argument, 
but by twisting words and definitions. In discussing legal strategies 
to legalize abortion internationally they go as far as to say, ``. . . 
there is a stealth quality to the work: we are achieving incremental 
recognition of values without a huge amount of scrutiny from the 
opposition. These lower profile victories will gradually put us in a 
strong position to assert a broad consensus around our assertions.'' 
The abortion lobby admits they are using deceptive tactics to push 
abortion on countries that have laws protecting unborn boys and girls.
  All the United States wants to do at this conference is to be 
truthful, nonambiguous and accurate about what the Beijing Programme of 
Action actually says about abortion and get on with the real work of 
helping women throughout the world.

[[Page E341]]



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