The Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development commences today in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The three-day meeting of
world leaders is the culmination of months of work dedicated to the RIO+20
conference, also known as the “Earth Summit.”
The outcome document for the
conference (known as 'The Future We Want') has been a major battleground for
months with numerous attempts to insert anti-life measures including abortion
and population control under the guise of so-called 'reproductive rights' or
'reproductive health services'. The finally agreed text, to be signed by heads
of state on Friday however has dropped references to either 'reproductive
rights' or 'reproductive health services'. See UN report
This pro-life success was won by a
group of countries together with the Holy See, among others including Russia,
Poland and several Latin American countries.
Pro-abortion groups, furious at the
result are initiating a variety of actions aimed at amending the finally agreed
text before it is signed on Friday. Some groups have been attacking the
involvement of the Holy See in the negotiations, others are demanding that
negotiations be reopened while others still are mobilizing youth groups to
demonstrate in favour of amending final text.
