February 24, 2009
UFI Heads to CSW to Protect Families!
Dear ~Contact.FirstName~,
It was 3:00 a.m. A small group of pro-family activists, including several from United Families International, were sitting in the basement of the United Nations. Behind the closed doors of the adjacent conference room were dozens of delegates who were trying to finalize the language for the final document of the Commission of the Status of Women. The debates had been going on since 6:00 p.m. Delegates would leave the room for quick trips to the food machines or restrooms. Each time they would look quizzically at the small group sitting outside their room. “Why are you still here?” some would ask.
Inside the conference room, the delegates who were supporting the pro-family cause were being attacked by those who wished to insert language that would mandate that abortion be legalized in all countries. “Why won’t you just give up?” they yelled at the group! “It is no use to continue fighting this! Just give up!” But the small group of pro-family delegates stayed firm and in the end they prevailed because they would not give up.
When the delegates began leaving the room at 5:00 a.m., many gave looks of contempt and disgust at the small group still sitting outside the room. When the majority were gone, the leader of the pro-family delegates walked over to the group and said, “Thank you for staying. If you had not stayed, I am not sure we would have prevailed. The fact that you were here, is what gave our group the ability to stand strong. We told them that we could not face you if we were to give up.” That was the 2008 Commission on the Status of Women.
The 2009 Commission on the Status of Women begins on March 2. Delegates from countries around the world will come to the United Nations to produce another document that will attempt to guarantee new rights to women. Attempts will be made to have abortion made a human right. Treaties with innocuous names like the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child will be pressed for acceptance. Despite their titles, these treaties present very real threats to families, parental rights, marriage and religious liberty.
United Families will be there once again. We will be staying up all night when necessary to provide support to those member states who have the willpower to stand up against the opposition who seeks to undermine the value of the family. We will be providing pro-family language that can be introduced to replace the destructive language inserted by the other side. We will be educating delegates against the dangerous elements that will come to the country if they choose to side with the anti-family forces.
We will represent all families across the globe. Wherever you live, you may think that the United Nations is far away and has little impact on you, your life or your family. That is not true. While it may be far away, the impact it has on your family is huge. You need an advocate there. You have one – United Families International. We will be working long hours over those two weeks to ensure that your right to raise your children, practice your faith, and protect your family will still be intact when CSW is completed. We will provide you with reports of our efforts. Please help us in this endeavor. Please donate $20 to show your support for the work we will be doing. We cannot do it without you. We do this work for your families and for ours. Please show your support for this great work by donating $20 now.
Thank You,
Beverly Rice
President
United Families International
The Truth About CEDAW
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie — deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” — John F. Kennedy
Women come in all shapes and sizes, all different backgrounds, and have all different needs. Understanding the importance of our role in society is what binds us together. We give balance to the family, the community, the nation, and the world. We flourish in the home, institutions of learning, careers, and with our own personal fulfillment. Today more than ever the uniqueness of women is under attack. Radical feminists not only want to change the role of women, they want society to be genderless, and they are bringing the fight to the United Nations.
Next week, beginning March 2 for two weeks, United Families will be in New York at the UN participating in the Committee on the Status of Women (CSW). We will be working to not only protect the role of the woman, but to fight off attempts to weaken the family, the rights of parents, and national sovereignty.
The tools used by our opponents include the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women treaty (CEDAW). This treaty threatens not only our laws, policies, and culture, but our nation’s sovereignty.
The CEDAW Commission “urges Governments, in cooperation with the United Nations system, the Bretton Woods institutions (world financing institutions), international and regional organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil society…to ratify, without reservations, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.”
Tremendous pressure is being put on the US Congress, one of the last nations that have not ratified the CEDAW treaty. Soon to change, the Democrat majority in Congress, with encouragement from President Obama is expected to push through ratification. Ratification will impose oversight and misinterpreted policies from an appointed United Nations committee with a radical agenda.
Treaties and International Law
Treaties may seem harmless. Nevertheless, they become international law and are fast becoming recognized as the state and federal case law in US courts. Justice Kennedy referenced international law when he delivered the court’s ruling in Lawrence v. Texas (2004) that ruled on homosexual marriage.
The Constitution of the United States clearly states the importance of treaties. In Article VI, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution, treaties are “supreme Law of the Land.” The founding fathers firmly believed that treaties should be upheld as constitutional.
CEDAW Brings International Oversight
Countries that ratify CEDAW are required to report to the oversight committee immediately and then every four years. Members include China and Cuba. Click here to see all 22 members of the committee. These members are given power and authority over treaty countries with no appeal process.
The following are some examples of the UN CEDAW demands unrealistic and persistent demands:
- Governments have been directed to legalize prostitution in direct conflict with language in CEDAW that opposed prostitution.
- Pro-life governments have been instructed to change their laws on abortion even though abortion is not part of CEDAW, including Namibia.
- Poland was just questioned on its stance on abortion because of its pro-life government.
- Ireland was criticized for allowing the Catholic Church too strong a voice on public policy.
- Libya was directed to reinterpret the Koran to fall within committee guidelines.
As was reported by Cecil and Linda Ash after witnessing an oversight committee hearing where Namibia was told to change their law to allow for abortions, “Namibia’s spokeswoman was not ruffled. With a smile on her face, she firmly announced: “The people of Namibia make the laws of our country, and they chose life.”
What appears to be a supportive document that helps women on their quest for equality is, in reality, a myth of epic proportion. President John F. Kennedy was correct in his assessment of myths. For they do allow “the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought”.
Join United Families as we continue to educate and inform you of the truth and how it affects your life and the lives of families around the world.
Click here for additional information on CEDAW and CSW
United Families Needs You!
Donate $20 Today!
Please donate $20 to show your support for the work we will be doing. We cannot do it without you. We do this work for your families and for ours. Please show your support for this great work by donating $20 now.