Senate Committee Votes for U.N. Gender Treaty

Senate Committee Votes for U.N. Gender Treaty

Jeff Johnson, CNSNews.com
Wednesday, July 31, 2002

WASHINGTON – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Tuesday for ratification of a controversial United Nations treaty opposed by a number of conservative women's groups.

The committee recommended ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) by a vote of 12 to seven. Republicans Gordon Smith of Oregon and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island crossed party lines to join all 10 committee Democrats in voting for the agreement.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the committee, said CEDAW "can be viewed as an international bill of rights.

"It sets out basic standards for women's rights, from the right to education to the right to equal employment opportunity to the right to equality under the law in marriage," Biden wrote with committee member Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., in an op-ed piece published around the country Tuesday.

"Nearly 170 nations have joined the treaty, but the United States stands with the likes of Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Syria and Somalia in failing to ratify it," he wrote.

But Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., the ranking minority member of the committee, says the treaty is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Unfortunately, some are confusing the very clear moral imperative to secure basic freedoms and liberties for women with pretense that a need exists to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)," Helms wrote in a letter to Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., Monday.

'Documented Radical Agenda'

"The documented radical agenda of the committee established by CEDAW is undisputed. [Among other things, that committee has directed China to legalize prostitution and has criticized Belarus for establishing Mother's Day]," Helms added.

"Moreover, there can be no doubt that CEDAW supporters are attempting to use this treaty to advance a radical abortion agenda. This is evident in [CEDAW] committee reports directing Ireland to legalize abortion, and criticizing Ireland for the Church's influence in public policy," he concluded.

Biden and Boxer dismissed Helms' assertion.

"Opponents warn that the treaty's call for universal access to family planning is really a disguised call for a right to abortion services. That is a charge with no basis in fact," the pair wrote in their op-ed.

"In 1994, the State Department certified that the treaty is abortion-neutral; that same year, the Committee on Foreign Relations agreed to a proposal, sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms, making clear that nothing in the treaty shall be construed as creating any right to an abortion," they added.

But Helms chastised the two for invoking his name inaccurately.

'Radical Abortion Agenda'

"I strongly disagree," he said, referring to the claim that CEDAW is "abortion neutral" because of his amendment. "The negotiated provision of my proposal was so watered down that the amendment would not result in CEDAW's radical abortion agenda being eliminated."

Helms noted that, despite the inclusion of a weakened version of his amendment, he voted against ratification of CEDAW in 1994 because of the pro-abortion nature of the treaty.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had written Biden, asking him to delay a vote on CEDAW while the department completes its review of "reservation, understandings, and declarations" the executive branch has with the language of the agreement, as well as its practical application by the U.N. implementation committee.

DOJ pointed to the same two examples Helms mentioned, expressing its reservations about the implementation committee.

"These are but two examples of the instances in which this committee has exploited CEDAW's vague text to advance positions contrary to American law and sensibilities," wrote Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant in a letter to Biden Friday.

Having passed the committee, the treaty can now be brought before the full Senate for ratification. A two-thirds majority, or 67 votes, would be required to ratify the treaty. No action is required in the House of Representatives.

Republican observers expect CEDAW to be brought up for a vote before the November midterm elections, in an attempt to embarrass the Bush administration for its reservations about the vague language and implementation of the treaty.

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