CEDAW

Urge senators to oppose CEDAW (pro-abortion treaty)

WASHINGTON (February 27, 2007) – The U.S. Senate could vote this year on whether to ratify a treaty that some international bodies have interpreted to prohibit any limitations on abortion.
The treaty is called the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, or for short “CEDAW” (pronounced “SEE-daw”). NRLC strongly opposes ratification of CEDAW because the treaty already has been construed to condemn virtually all limits on abortion by the U.N. committee that is charged with enforcing it, by the European Parliament, and by pro-abortion litigating groups. Many other pro-life organizations also oppose ratification of CEDAW, including Concerned Women for America, the Family Research Council, the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Focus on the Family, and the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute.
What is CEDAW?
The CEDAW is a treaty that was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979. Since then it has been ratified by 185 nations, but never by the United States. President Jimmy Carter signed the treaty and sent it to the Senate in 1980, but the Senate has never voted on whether to ratify it – in part because of serious questions about the impact it could have in many areas of U.S. law, including laws pertaining to abortion.
Although the CEDAW does not mention the word “abortion,” Article 12 does require signing nations to “eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care in order to ensure, on a basis of equality between men and women, access to health care services, including those related to family planning.” Since about 1995, Article 12 and other provisions have been creatively interpreted by official bodies, ranging from the European Parliament to the UN CEDAW Committee, to condemn limitations on abortion, on grounds that any restrictions on abortion constitute discrimination against women. To read NRLC's February 1, 2007 letter to the Senate, which cites a number of examples, click here.
The NRLC letter to the Senate concluded: “In summary: the CEDAW, if ratified, would be used to assert an international obligation on the federal and state governments to provide public funding for abortion, to refrain from adopting or enforcing restrictions on partial-birth abortions, to refrain from adopting or enforcing laws to protect the rights of parents with respect to their minor daughters, to eliminate conscience-protection laws, and otherwise to condemn any limitations on abortion. . . . For these reasons, a vote in favor of a ratification resolution is a vote in favor of all of these sweeping pro-abortion policies, and will be accurately so characterized in our scorecard of key roll call votes for the 110th Congress.”
Prospects in 2007 Senator Joseph Biden (D-De.), a CEDAW supporter who took over this year as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and other Senate Democrats are under pressure from liberal advocacy groups to press the treaty to a vote of the full Senate this year.
All but a few of the Senate’s 51 Democrats already have endorsed the CEDAW. However, many of the 49 Republican senators have never taken a position on it. Even if every Democratic senator voted in favor of ratification, treaty supporters would need 16 Republican senators’ votes in order to achieve the required two-thirds margin (if every senator votes). “Ratification of CEDAW can be stopped,” says NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. “It requires the votes of only one-third of the senators, plus one, to block ratification of a treaty.”
Immediate Action Requested
Please enter your zip code into the "Take Action" Box below, in order to send e-mail urging your two U.S. senators to oppose ratification of the CEDAW.
Also, you can telephone any senator’s office through the U.S. Capitol switchboard, 202-224-3121. If you are not sure who your senators are, just tell the operator which state you live in, and you will be directed to the correct offices. Or, you can look up the direct phone and fax numbers for the offices of your U.S. Senators by going to the "Elected Officials" tab at the top of this page. PLEASE NOTE: Because of security procedures, there are often long delays in the delivery and counting of U.S. mail on Capitol Hill, so we highly recommend the use of e-mail, telephone, and fax. Whatever methods you choose, you should make it clear that you are a constituent, politely urge the senator to “oppose ratification of the CEDAW (pronounced ‘SEE-daw’) treaty,” and ask for a written response explaining the senator's position.