UN AIDS Conference Threatens to Push for Increased Access to Abortion

By C-FAM Staff | 2005

     (NEW YORK – C-FAM) On June 2, the UN will host a high-level conference to evaluate the progress achieved in combating HIV/AIDS since 2001, when countries adopted the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. An emerging strategy by abortion advocates has been to seek liberalization of abortion laws as what they claim is a necessary step to HIV/AIDS prevention. The conference threatens to result in further pressure on governments to forge linkages between access to abortion and efforts to halt the spread of HIV.

     A discussion paper for the conference advocates the "integration of sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS" and states that "sexual and reproductive health services is a clear strategic entry point for maximizing the impact of HIV prevention efforts." The paper also ties abortion rights to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the UN's major current initiative, stating that "ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health information and services…is essential for achieving the Millennium Development Goals."

     "Reproductive health services" and similar expressions are understood by the UN to include abortion. For example, the UN Millennium Project study on ways to increase progress towards the MDGs states in a report, under the subtitle "Full access to sexual and reproductive health information and services…," that " A comprehensive district health system…includes safe abortion services."

     The discussion paper for the June 2 conference cites the Millennium Project study to recommend that "Governments incorporate universal access to reproductive and sexual health services as an integral part of their response to AIDS."

     The paper also cites as authoritative two recent manifestos produced by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) together with abortion activists and other UN agencies. The Glion Call to Action urges countries to "strengthen commitment to achieving universal access to reproductive health services, including family planning, and recognize and support the contribution of these services to HIV/AIDS prevention efforts."

     The New York Call to Commitment further calls for "strengthening of the policy and programme linkages between HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health" and states that the MDGs "will not be achieved without ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health services and programmes."

     UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his preparatory report for the June 2 conference, also approves of the New York Call to Commitment, saying that it "articulates a comprehensive framework to maximize the use of sexual and reproductive health services to strengthen the global AIDS response." Earlier, in a report for the Conference on Population and Development, Annan had stated that "The United Nations and its partners are expected to intensify programme linkages between HIV programmes and sexual and reproductive health services."

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