NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      NEW YORK (CWNews.com) - A UN committee focusing on women's rights has pressured governments to stop promoting motherhood and called on religions to change the interpretation of their sacred texts as part of a campaign to promote radical feminism, according to a Catholic pro-family group on Friday.

      The Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute said the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has used the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to put pressure on the 163 countries that have ratified it to implement their vision of feminism. The committee recently directed the government of Libya to reinterpret the Koran, the sacred text of Islam, "in light of the provisions of the Convention."

      Although not mentioned in CEDAW, the committee has claimed abortion as a fundamental human right and has directed a number of governments to change their restrictive laws. The committee complained to Mexico about "the lack of access for women" to easy and swift abortion. The Committee criticized Italy for allowing doctors to claim "conscientious objection" in performing abortions.

      The Committee criticized Croatia for allowing "church-related organizations to adversely influence" women's rights. It told the Dominican Republic that an "intermingling of the secular and religious spheres" is a "serious impediment to implementing the Convention."

      The group also admonished Armenia to "use the educational system and electronic media to combat the traditional stereotype of women 'in the noble role of mother,'" and the Czech Republic was criticized for "over-protective measures for pregnancy and motherhood." The committee's mandate is to oversee the advancement of women's status in the world, by requiring signatory states to report how they work for "equality in public life ... [and] also in private life."

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