Feminists Step Up Attempt to Ratify CEDAW Treaty     3/1/2006
By Robert Stuber

“CEDAW is everything that was bad about the ERA and much more,” says Wendy Wright.

Liberal efforts for U.N. ratification of the radical United Nations treaty known as CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) is alive and well, as Concerned Women for America (CWA) President Wendy Wright found when she spoke at a December debate in the greater Washington, D.C., area sponsored by a group called Women Engaging Globally.

Wright was the only one of four on the panel who presented a pro-life, pro-family and anti-CEDAW viewpoint.

“The other speakers claimed that other countries—those that have already signed CEDAW—will not treat women decently unless the U.S. also ratifies it,” said Wright. “This is a form of blackmail.

“They also said that women in the United States have it as bad or worse than in countries that regard women as property.”

CWA has learned that at least four radical organizations are working to get CEDAW ratified:

Center for Women Policy Studies (www.centerwomenpolicy.org): Founded in 1972, it is a leftist, feminist “think tank” advancing abortion on demand, lesbian rights and other liberal policies. It seems to have more recently added an emphasis in foreign policy, which would explain its involvement in this coalition.

League of Women Voters (www.lwv.org): While the League is better known, a lot of people mistakenly think that because they label themselves as “non-partisan,” they are not political. The League’s founder, Alice Paul, wrote the original ERA. Make no mistake; the League is very liberal and pushing CEDAW ratification.

Women’s Environmental & Development Organization (www.wedo.org): Back in 1990, former congressman and radical feminist Bella Abzug co-founded this group to advance the U.N.’s agenda on a global basis.

Open Society: This is the front group for left-wing international financier, George Soros, who is best known for spending millions of his own money in an effort to defeat President Bush in the 2004 elections.

The forum heightened CWA’s concern about CEDAW for several reasons:

1. CEDAW supporters are pushing its ratification and building grassroots support through low-key events, such as the forum, in order to win passage “under the radar.”
2. The slow, low-key approach is designed to avoid scaring people and arousing opposition, as happened with the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.
3. This is an election year and, like every second-term president, President Bush’s influence over Congress is waning. He has declined to push CEDAW.
4. Public opinion polls show that if the 2008 elections were held today, Hillary Clinton would be the likely winner. Since Sen. Clinton, as first lady, was heavily involved in integrating U.N. policies into U.S. executive agencies and led the infamous U.N. Beijing Women’s Conference, it would be fair to say that her liberal agenda as president would be pro-U.N., pro-feminist and pro-CEDAW ratification.

“People should be concerned because the CEDAW treaty is everything that was bad about the ERA and much more,” said Wright. “I believe that liberal feminists are preparing the groundwork for the Senate to try a quick ratification strike that would give us little time to react.”

CEDAW could become the law of the land simply with Senate ratification. The U.S. Constitution doesn’t permit President Bush to veto its ratification, and the House of Representatives is similarly barred from any role in its approval.

Take Action: Ratification of CEDAW would require two-thirds of U.S. senators present to vote for the treaty. Ask your senators to vote no on CEDAW. Capitol switchboard: 202-225-3121. Or click here for additional contact information.

For more information:

CEDAW Committee Rulings

CEDAW Preys on Needy Women

CEDAW: A Global Tool That Would Harm Women

Exposing CEDAW

The Stalking Horse Named CEDAW

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