Posted on 06/05/2002 10:03:48 PM PDT by ppaul
Mother's Day is bad, and prostitution is good. That's the conclusion of a committee created to implement an international treaty more than 20 years old that is supposedly aimed at safeguarding women's rights.
But what's worse, the U.S. Senate is about to discuss approving that treaty.
At issue is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), an international agreement created in 1979 to institute "a change in the traditional role of men as well as the role of women in society and in the family."
But family advocates say the treaty is much more than just an equal-rights agreement.
"CEDAW is just about the most dangerous treaty that the U.S. government has ever considered ratifying, because it calls for the absolute leveling of any kind of distinction between men and women, at every level of society, including in the home," said Austin Ruse, head of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, which monitors the United Nations.
For example, Article 5 of CEDAW mandates that nations agreeing to the document "modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of … stereotyped roles for men and women."
Thomas Jacobson, United Nations manager for Focus on the Family, also took issue with the treaty's philosophical underpinnings.
"CEDAW seeks to redefine 'equal rights' to mean an unnatural and absolute equality between men and women in all areas: marriage, work, public affairs, government," Jacobson said. "CEDAW rejects the true basis of equality: that men and women are equally created in the image of God."
As bad as the treaty is, Ruse added that the 23-member panel it created to monitor implementation of CEDAW has taken the issue "exponentially into dark, dark territory." Here are just a few examples of nations that have been criticized by the panel in recent years:
Belarus, 2000: for "the continuing reintroduction of such symbols as ... Mother's Day";
China, 1999: for its laws outlawing prostitution;
the committee called for "the decriminalization of prostitution";
Kyrgyzstan, 1999: for its laws against lesbianism; the committee ordered that "lesbianism be reconceptualized as a sexual orientation and that penalties for its practice be abolished";
Ireland, 1999: for its "stereotyped view of the role of women in the home and as mothers"; and
Slovenia, 1997: for having "less than 30 percent of children under three years of age ... in formal day care."So far, more than 150 nations have approved the document. President Jimmy Carter signed it in 1980, but the U.S. Senate has never ratified it — a constitutional requirement before international treaties can go into effect in the United States. However, that hasn't stopped proponents of CEDAW, such as Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., from continuing to push for ratification.
"There are some ... who think that the U.S. government ought to report to this committee ... and that is plainly crazy," Ruse said.
As a result, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to take up the issue of CEDAW ratification next week.
Ruse encouraged citizens to make their voices heard.
"Americans can weigh in by calling the White House ... and simply saying 'Unsign CEDAW.' The Bush administration is determining its position right now, and they ... will listen to what ... taxpayers want from this consideration."
TAKE ACTION
Contact President Bush and urge him to "Unsign CEDAW" (pronounced SEE-daw).
White House switchboard: 202-456-1414
E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov
Also, contact your two U.S. senators and urge them to "Oppose CEDAW." Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, or for help in finding out who your senators are and how to contact them, see our Legislative Action Center. Please make a special effort if your senator is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Those members are:
Democrats
Joseph Biden (Delaware), Chairman
Paul Sarbanes (Maryland)
Chris Dodd (Connecticut)
John Kerry (Massachusetts)
Russell Feingold (Wisconsin)
Paul Wellstone (Minnesota)
Barbara Boxer (California)
Robert Torricelli (New Jersey)
Bill Nelson (Florida)
Jay Rockefeller (West Virginia)
Republicans
Jesse Helms (North Carolina)
Richard Lugar (Indiana)
Chuck Hagel (Nebraska)
Gordon Smith (Oregon)
Bill Frist (Tennessee)
Lincoln Chafee (Rhode Island)
George Allen (Virginia)
Sam Brownback (Kansas)
Michael Enzi (Wyoming)Link to article HERE.
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