According to State Department officials, the Bush administration may refuse to send a delegation to the upcoming special United Nations General Assembly session on children next month because it fears that the final language of the declaration will include support for abortion counseling and services. In addition, the Bush administration stressed its concerns that the special session would overemphasize the rights of children over the rights of parents.
“Once again, Bush’s anti-abortion stance has trumped human rights,” says Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority. “With his refusal to send a delegation to this children’s rights summit and his recent, weak decision on stem cell research, Bush has proven that he is more concerned with embryos in petri dishes than he is with children living in poverty and malnutrition.”
The September session is intended as a follow-up to the 1990 World Summit for Children, where the international community adopted a plan promoting education, reducing disease, improving health care for women and children and providing better sanitation and food supplies. The announcement has already garnered criticism from Capital Hill.
