Bush Against International Women's Rights Agreement

Of course the problem is "reproductive health care". It seems Bush wants the agreement rewritten.

http://www.planetwire.org/

Governments are gathering in New York City over the next two weeks to revisit women's progress since the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women met in Beijing in 1995. The U.S. was a leading architect of the Beijing Platform for Action, where 189 countries committed to advancing universal education for girls, ending violence against women, and ensuring access to lifesaving reproductive health care, among other critical issues.

Late yesterday, in quiet negotiations out of the public eye, the Bush administration signaled to other nations that it would not unequivocally reaffirm the commitments made by the United States to the world's women a decade ago.

"I am extremely concerned that the U.S. will withdraw its support for women's human rights on the world's stage," said June Zeitlin, executive director of the Women's Environment and Development Organization. "This is in stark contrast to our government's rhetoric supporting women's rights in Afghanistan and Iraq, and would be a terrible step backward."

"The U.S. should reaffirm, not retreat from, women's rights and equality. Globally, this is about saving women's lives," said Eleanor Smeal, president of Feminist Majority.