EU fights U.S. attempt to put anti-abortion clause into UN women's declaration
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The European Union opposes a U.S. demand to add anti-abortion language to the final declaration of a major UN meeting reviewing implementation of a landmark platform adopted 10 years ago to achieve women's equality, a French minister said.
Nicole Ameline, France's minister for parity and equality in the workplace, said Tuesday any attempt to change the declaration's reaffirmation of the platform adopted by 189 countries at the 1995 UN women's conference in China could be seen as a step backward for women's rights.
The United States has accused advocacy groups, which it wouldn't identify, of trying to hijack the term "reproductive health services" in the platform and define it in a way that guarantees the right to abortion. It is demanding the declaration to be adopted at the two-week meeting that began Monday be amended to reaffirm the platform does not create any new human rights, including "the right to abortion."
U.S. Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey, head of the U.S. delegation, said Monday the United States is not seeking "in any way" to reopen negotiations on the 150-page document.
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