REALity Volume XXXV Issue No.6 June 2016
By: Cecilia Forsyth, Past President
REAL Women of Canada representatives have attended the annual UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) since the mid 1990’s. The recent CSW 60 took place March 14 – 24, 2016 in New York City. The theme for this year is “Women’s empowerment and its link to the Sustainable Development Goals”. (SDG) The review theme was “The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.”
Every UN meeting has two parts: (1) the delegates representing the Member States and (2) the non-government organizations (NGO) which includes REAL Women of Canada. The Member States negotiate and produce the outcome document, called the Agreed Conclusions of the Conference. The Member States may sponsor NGO presentations, called “side events” on the UN premise. The NGO part schedules the NGO presentations, called “parallel events”. About 10 different parallel events run every two hours each day at three different locations.
This year is the first time the “A” word, abortion, has appeared front and centre in the titles of some NGO presentations. It has always been hidden under the term ‘sexual and reproductive health’. This is an indication of the determination of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, UN agencies, European Union, United States, Canada and others to have ‘sexual and reproductive health services and rights (meaning abortion) and comprehensive sexuality’ designated as human rights for women and girls. The pro-family coalition works with delegates to keep this terminology out of the UN documents.
REAL Women of Canada at CSW 60
Almost all of the pro-family events were assigned the early morning (as we were) or at the end of the day time slots when there is the lowest attendance. It is interesting to note that one of the very first events on March 14th and one of the very last events on March 24th were pro-family presentations. Several pro-family requests for parallel events were denied including the request by Campaign Life Coalition co-sponsored by REAL Women of Canada and the Society for Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) to sponsor an NGO event on maternal health care. Equality and fairness are not attributes of the UN bureaucrats.
Surprisingly, in the end, this worked in our favour since the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the UN offered to sponsor our panel on “Best Practices for Maternal Health Care in Africa” at a more popular time. The presentation was held in the UN General Assembly building with an audience of 400 people including UN delegates as well as NGO representatives. His Excellency, The Most Reverend Bernardito C. Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations was the moderator. A video of the presentation can be seen at: www.campaignlifecoalition.com.
The excellent speakers included:
• Founder and President of Culture of Life Africa, Objanuju Ekeocha, a young woman from Nigeria, who said, her culture believes human life is precious and that motherhood is a blessing not a burden. She admitted Africa has the highest maternal death rate in the world, but the west’s response of abortion to this is not helpful, and is “another form of colonization.”
• Dr. Robert Walley from Newfoundland, Founder and Executive Director of MaterCare International which provides health services and hospitals in Africa. He noted, “91% of maternal deaths, occur in the last three months of pregnancy, during labour and delivery, or the first week after delivery and most could be prevented by early treatment”. He called the lack of medical facilities and trained midwives a form of violence against mothers. Dr. Walley said, abortion and birth control are irrelevant, and an outrageous solution to maternal mortality in Africa.
• Maria Madise, International Director for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, lamented the ”forceful diversion of resources to the promotion of abortion and birth control programs that claim to reduce maternal mortality”. Evidence is clear that countries with restricted abortion such as Poland, Ireland and Malta, have the lowest rates of maternal death. She concluded, eliminating the child is not a solution to reduce maternal deaths.
REAL Women also organized with Endeavour Forum Inc. of Australia as co-sponsor, an NGO event addressing the link between abortion and breast cancer and between abortion and violence against women. Speakers were Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, a breast cancer surgeon, Professor Joel Brind, a medical researcher, and Dr. Martha Shuping a psychiatrist. World-wide studies show abortion can increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer by denying her the protective effect of a full-term pregnancy. Domestic violence, intimate partner violence, coerced abortion and sex-selection of girl babies are all associated with abortion. See The Breast Cancer Prevention Institute at www.bcpinstitute.org for details.
Finally, in these busy few days, REAL Women also, co-sponsored a presentation organized by the Center for Family & Human Rights (C-Fam) on “Political Correctness and Gender Ideology”. Panelists were Austin Ruse, President of C-Fam, Stella Morabito, contributor to The Federalist, and Michael Walsh, screenwriter and author, whose latest book is The Devil’s Pleasure Palace. They discussed the modern problem of political correctness; where it comes from, how it is exercised, its dangers to a free people and how it leads to totalitarianism.
Canada is back Says Trudeau
Every time the Prime Minister or the other Ministers spoke at CSW 60, they proclaimed, “Canada is back” to loud cheers and applause. The Prime Minister was further applauded when he said, “I am a feminist”.
Canada sponsored a side event with International Planned Parenthood Federation at the impressive office of the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA). Initially, two colleagues from Campaign Life and I were denied entry, but after pleading our case as Canadian NGOs, we were finally admitted. The messages of the two Canadian Ministers were very revealing as to the intent of the Liberal government in promoting abortion at home and abroad.
The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Status of Women, proclaimed Canada’s commitment to: 1) advance gender equality and protect women’s rights around the world; 2) be a leader to reduce and prevent gender-based violence, 3) promote sexual and reproductive health and rights, (abortion); and 4) stand up for LGBTQ rights (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgenders) at home and abroad.
The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau reaffirmed Canada’s “explicit commitment in support of access to sexual and reproductive health services for all women and adolescents.” She called. “sexual and reproductive health a matter of human rights and gender equality”.
Canada announced it is running for a seat on the UN Commission on the Status of Women for the 2017-2021 term. If elected, Minister Hajdu said Canada would lead to support the full realization of women’s rights as human rights around the world.
In UN language, any version of the term ‘sexual and reproductive health services and rights’ – means abortion and radical sexuality education. Instead of saying ‘Canada is back’, one could say, ‘the Liberals are back’. Regrettably.