Senate Sources Believe Radical UN Treaty May Pass into US Law

By C-FAM Staff | 2002

     (NEW YORK – C-FAM) Some conservative senate staffers are bracing for the possibility that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the controversial UN women's treaty, may become United States law. On Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to send CEDAW to the full Senate for possible ratification. Ratification requires a two-thirds majority, and informal headcounts in the Senate suggest that CEDAW may be approaching the 67 votes necessary for passage.

     Informed sources on Capitol Hill have told the Friday Fax that feminists and abortion-rights groups are highly organized and that their members are bombarding senators' offices with calls in favor of the treaty. These sources also state that this grass-roots campaign shows signs of success. Even some moderate Republicans are said to be leaning towards ratification, their opinions having been swayed by the overwhelming number of calls their offices have received from pro-CEDAW constituents. Some in Washington believe that conservative groups "have dropped the ball on CEDAW," and have not effectively mobilized their own members to counter the pro-CEDAW campaign.

     In fact, momentum for CEDAW appears to be growing. A vote could occur very soon, and an air of grave concern pervades senate staffs opposed to the UN treaty.

     Some Republicans, including members of the Bush administration, are looking for ways to adopt reservations to the treaty that would blunt its most radical elements and therefore make it more palatable to conservatives. However, a broad range of pro-family groups, including Focus on the Family, the Family Research Center, Concerned Women for America and United Families International, insist there is no way to make the treaty acceptable.

     One reason they cite is the radical nature of the CEDAW compliance committee, the group that interprets the document. This panel, considered by UN observers to be the most active and ideological UN committee, criticized Belarus for establishing Mother's Day. According to UN records, the committee expressed concern that, in Uzbekistan, "women's motherhood role was taking precedence over their professional and individual development." It also told diplomats from Singapore that "too much emphasis was placed on family in Singapore." The committee urged China to legalize prostitution. It informed Ireland that it was "compromised" by the influence of the Catholic Church, and stated that "the Committee is concerned that, with very limited exceptions, abortion remains illegal in Ireland. Women who wish to terminate their pregnancies need to travel abroad."

     Many critics also cringe at the prospect of US delegates submitting reports to a committee that includes representatives from some of the most repressive regimes in the world, including China, where it is still against the law for women to have more than one child.

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