LIFE ISSUES NO. 2668

U.N. – Part 8 (The U.N. & Sexual Norms)

I’m in the midst of two weeks of investigation and reporting on the United Nations.  Most Americans are under the impression that this doesn’t affect us—and that’s true, to a certain extent—but in almost every other nation in the world, what the United Nation’s committees recommend literally has the force of law. 

The original founding documents spoke to values that we can all endorse.  But in the last couple of decades, through the mechanism of two international treaties—one on the rights of children and the other on the rights of women—U.N. committees have promoted a radical, anti-family, anti-life set of policies, destructive of religion, of parental rights and of the family.  In commenting on this, I’m drawing on my own extensive international experience, but also that of others, particularly including Dr. Patrick Fagan. 

Today, let me comment about changing cultures by changing sexual norms.  As you all know, contraception for teenagers is highly controversial.  Nowhere in any of the recent U.N. committee reports, or on its website, has the United Nations at any time proposed or even mentioned abstinence until marriage.  Rather, U.N. committees have promoted universal access to contraception and abortion, and always without parental permission.

In major conferences in 1995 in Beijing, and in 2000 in New York, U.N. committees aggressively pushed to insert abortion into these treaties.  Pro-family forces managed to keep it out.  However, despite this relatively clear outcome, U.N. committees have continued to advocate change of laws to allow abortion-on-demand and complete sexual freedom in all nations in the world. 

For instance, in Peru, the U.N. committees advocated abortions, claiming they were doing it in the interest of safety.  In Mexico, U.N. committees have encouraged local and state governments to defy the national law there which forbids abortion and to “review their legislation so that, where necessary, women are granted access to rapid and easy abortion.”  The U.N. has further told Mexico that it should authorize the use of the abortion drug RU 486.

They’ve even challenged Ireland, where they have had two referenda, one in the ‘80s and one in the ‘90s, and both have rejected legalized abortion.  Ignoring these, the U.N. has urged Ireland to “facilitate a national dialogue on women’s reproductive rights”—that means legalization of abortion. 

It has attacked freedom of conscience provisions in many other national laws.  It criticized Croatia, for instance, because, in some of its hospitals, patients cannot get abortions because doctors refused to do them.

Abortion is legal in Italy, but in Southern Italy there’s a high incidence of conscientious objection among doctors and, as a consequence, hospitals won’t do abortions.  The U.N. has criticized this, expressing “particular concern about the lack of services for women.” 

And so the U.N. committees have repeatedly and aggressively advocated sex outside of marriage, free abortion, free contraception with no limits of any kind, plus legalization of homosexuality and of prostitution.

[09/26/01]