…For more than a year, the Bush administration has
sought ways to illustrate its commitment to multilateralism. Rejoining UNESCO is
the most tangible manifestation of this effort so far.
…In a Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute
(C-FAM) memo requested by the White House and the State Department a year
ago, it was pointed out that social conservatives would object to UNESCO’s
collaboration with the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) and its main NGO partner,
the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). In line with these
groups, UNESCO now advocates for reproductive health services for children. In
U.N. parlance, reproductive health services includes abortion. For instance, one
UNESCO document praises Thailand’s provision of abortion-causing “emergency
contraceptives” to children as an “innovative strategy.”
…UNESCO is also a proponent of the International
Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, a document written by UNAIDS and the
U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights. The document calls on governments to
ensure a “right to safe and legal abortion,” to legalize “same-sex marriages,”
to legalize prostitution, and to provide graphic sexual and homosexual education
to children. The document also seeks the establishment of “criminal penalties”
for people engaged in speech construed to be a “vilification” of homosexuality.
…In the name of AIDS-reduction, UNESCO has fully
embraced reproductive and sex education. In concert with UNAIDS and UNFPA,
UNESCO has created curricula that many social conservatives would believe
undermine parental authority, show disdain for traditional cultures and
religious worldviews, and introduce dishonesty into education. Full
story
