The controversy over women's rights and abortion was raised by the recent United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) gathering in New York. The US has been urging for an amendment to a declaration that was discussed in the meeting. The US were hoping to ensure that a right for abortion was not created, but has, on Friday, dropped its lobby. However, many pro-lifers believe that it is a positive turn-out because it has managed to clarify the stance of worldwide leaders on abortion.
The declaration that triggered the debate is known as the Beijing Platform for Action. Advocacy groups were interpreting terms in the document such as "reproductive rights" and "reproductive health services" to include a global "right" to an abortion. However, this saying was disagreed with by European Union leaders.
After one week of reviews on the issue, the US said numerous member states' delegations had finally confirmed that in their understanding, the document will not "constitute support, endorsement, or promotion of abortion."
According to the US delegation head Ellen Sauerbrey, the US effort had accomplished its purpose of clarifying the question of abortion and the Beijing documents. Therefore, the previous lobbying for an amendment has now been withdrawn.
The 45-member UNCSW unanimously endorsed the platform for action adopted at the 1995 UN women's conference in Beijing on Friday.
Even though the nations which saw no problem on the declaration at the beginning may see the withdrawal of US as a mis-step. Many pro-lifers have in fact hailed the overwhelming concern shown over abortion during the period of review last week.
According to United Families International, over the past six days, it has received more than 670,000 e-mails from more than 50 countries in support of the US position.
"This worldwide outpouring of support had a substantial positive impact on the outcome."
UFI international policy director E. Douglas Clark said that the international support had been instrumental in "eliciting formal statements from many nations that the Beijing documents do not create any right to abortion or any new international human rights."
Austin Ruse of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute noted that not only governments, but advocacy groups as well, had during the past week, reaffirmed that the Beijing platform did not create a right to abortion.
"While the US effort to formalise this understanding of Beijing failed, the debate provoked by the proposal brought significant admissions by abortion proponents," he said.
"Many of those who often assert that Beijing expands abortion rights agreed this week that the Beijing documents leave abortion policies within the realm of national sovereignty."