THE e-newsletter called OPW (Office for the Participation of Women) sent out by the Council for Australian Catholic Women (CACW) dated August 1 contained a report that the Rudd Government has announced that it has commenced the process towards accession to the UN Optional Protocol to the Committee for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
I would have thought that the Catholic body of CACW would be protesting to the Government on their proposed signing of the Optional Protocol where the Government has to accept the document as is with no reservations allowed.
This could open up the way for pressure to be put on Australia to accept legalised abortion.
A report from a US Catholic Family website has reported that recently CEDAW concluded its latest round of meetings, pressing all eight delegations under review on their abortion policies even though the treaty never mentions abortion.
Bolivia, Burundi, Saudi Arabia, France, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Morocco and Sweden were each questioned on abortion in the CEDAW committee inaugural meeting in its new Geneva location.
One of the most outspoken and abortion-friendly members of the CEDAW committee, emphasised that what she said was the urgent need for Bolivia to have a new draft law on sexual and reproductive rights as soon as possible.
The CEDAW committee’s concluding comments urged Bolivia “to adopt implementing regulations for existing laws on Bolivian women’s right to therapeutic abortion”.
Other delegations were similarly questioned. In what has become standard practice for the CEDAW committee, members have tried to forge links between what they claim are high maternal mortality figures and illegal or clandestine abortion in order to urge states to increase access to “sexual and reproductive health services” including “family planning services”.
Although we don’t have high maternal mortality figures, pro-abortion proponents in Australia could also use the protocol as a lever to force a Bill through Parliament making abortion legal.
CEDAW has provided countries with means to prevent many forms of discrimination against women and this is good, but their pro-abortion stance is a form of discrimination against the unborn. Who will speak for them?
If the Government proceeds with this action, Australia will be signing a document that condones abortion whether we agree with it or not and CACW should be speaking out against it. And not only CACW but the Catholic Church in Australia should be protesting at the highest level.
PAT CANNARD
Murrumba Downs, Qld
