US refuses to sign multinational plan to ensure women's rights

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anitram

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From Yahoo:

UNITED NATIONS - The United States has refused to join 85 other heads of state and government in signing a statement that endorsed a 10-year-old U.N. plan to ensure every woman's right to education, health care, and choice about having children.



President Bush (news - web sites)'s administration withheld its signature because the statement included a reference to "sexual rights."


U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kelly Ryan wrote to organizers of the statement that that the United States was committed to the Cairo plan of 1994 and "to the empowerment of women and the need to promote women's fullest enjoyment of universal human rights."


"The United States is unable, however, to endorse the world leaders' statement," Ryan said, because it "includes the concept of `sexual rights,' a term that has no agreed definition in the international community."


Ryan did not elaborate on the Bush administration's objections to the phrase "sexual rights," but at past U.N. meetings U.S. representatives have spoken out against abortion, gay rights and what they see as the promotion of promiscuity by giving condoms to young people to prevent AIDS (news - web sites).
 
Well of course it makes sense. Womens rights are all okay as long as they fit within a tight right wing Christian boundary.
 
I hate hate hate it when people think they can put God in a box and define him according to their image and purposes....I'm a Christian but that kinda attitude is so annoying...

I seriously want to move out of the States someday...I think America is losing it's way...
 
typical. the bush administration isn't interested in any form of international agreement unless it directly benefits them (kyoto, the international criminal court, its total disregard of the UN, etc.). this we're-the-only-superpower isolationist thinking is creating problems for everyone--including the US.

this is hardly surprising, though. bush is a reactionary when it comes to anything outside of the 'traditional family'. i think his stance has less to do with religion and more to do with maintaining the old boys' club standard quo.

:down:
 
"Sexual rights" sounds, to me, like the right to not be raped.

How very controversial. :|

:down: to Bush and Co., for the quadrillionth time
 
paxetaurora said:
"Sexual rights" sounds, to me, like the right to not be raped.

That's what I thought -- the right to decide who to share your body with, not the right to marry women.

Ah, here's the problem. It gives women the right to make their own decisions about their reproductive heath i.e. birth control, use of condoms, etc.:

The 1994 Cairo program, signed by 179 countries, including the United States [in '94], says women have the "right to make decisions concerning reproduction, free of discrimination, coercion and violence as expressed in human rights documents."

The support statement notes that in 1994 "the world's governments and civil society committed to an action plan to ensure universal access to reproductive health information and services, uphold fundamental human rights including sexual and reproductive rights, alleviate poverty, secure gender equality, and protect the environment."
 
Earnie Shavers said:
Does stuff like this get any real attention in the US? I mean, its a "fuck you" from Bush to around 50% of the voters....

True, but just goes to show how low women's self-esteem still is (that many would still vote for him, I mean).
 
Mrs. Edge said:
OMG, and I'm going to be moving to the US in 2 months! :crazy:

I am afraid....very afraid.....

:uhoh:

No worries, you've got a Canadian passport. You got a brother for me, btw? :sexywink:
 
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