Drafters Settle on Language for Abortion Policy

Drafters of a new global plan on population set aside continuing objections from the Vatican on Friday and endorsed a new abortion policy that calls for protecting women from unsafe abortions but leaves legalization up to individual nations.

A small working group of the 160 countries at the International Conference on Population and Development moved on to the difficult issues of defining reproductive health and reproductive rights, and also faced some Islamic opposition to making inheritance laws equal for men and women.

The compromise wording on abortion was substantially the same as a policy statement that won overwhelming international endorsement earlier in the week, but three days of exhausting negotiations aimed at bringing the Vatican on board produced a refined version that all but a handful of Latin American countries accept.

The Holy See announced that it favored many parts of the abortion policy, including its goal of protecting women from botched abortions, its call for counseling services aimed at preventing abortion and its not promoting abortion as a family-planning tool.

The Vatican said it “endorses the need to provide quality medical care for the complications arising from abortion,” adding, however, that its positive reaction “constitutes a substantial but not complete identification” with the new policy.

The Vatican delegation said it would reserve a final decision until other controversial sections of the population plan have been debated, clearing the way for the abortion policy to proceed for final adoption by the conference Monday.

The conference’s 20-year action plan sets out a comprehensive set of policies--ranging from empowering women to reducing consumption by rich nations--aimed at curbing global population, currently at 5.7 billion and growing by a record 90 million people a year.

While the overwhelming majority of the plan’s proposals have a solid international consensus, the conference from its beginning Monday has been sidetracked by the Vatican’s attempt to excise language in any policy that might be seen as favoring abortion.

In his careful address withholding endorsement of the abortion policy, Msgr. Diarmuid Martin also said the Vatican was dropping its objections to the phrase “family planning” in the document because of new assurances that such programs will not include abortion.

Yet U.S. officials said they were pleased with the conciliatory tone of Martin’s address, even though he withheld specific approval of the abortion policy. Afterward, U.S. delegation chief Timothy E. Wirth went to congratulate the Vatican delegate personally on his remarks.

The Holy See appears to be setting itself up for a dramatic showdown at the close of the conference, scheduled for Tuesday, when it will finally announce whether it can back the population action plan or not.

Argentina, Peru, Malta, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic were the only nations to join the Vatican in opposing the compromise abortion policy, but U.S. officials emphasized that the Holy See is far from sidelined.

“I think the proceedings of the last four days should show you that they have not been marginalized. There are difficult issues ahead, and if they’re not handled in a positive and respectful way, it’s going to be impossible to reach a consensus,” said a Clinton Administration official.

Some of the most controversial issues now under discussion involve the definitions of reproductive health and reproductive rights, areas in which the Vatican fears a new international right to abortion could be implicitly established.

Islamic countries, which pulled out of an earlier alliance with the Vatican when they endorsed the compromise policy on abortion, also still have an agenda ahead.

Egypt, for example, is questioning an otherwise non-controversial section on gender equality that calls for men and women to have equal inheritance rights. Under Islamic law, a woman inherits only half as much as a man.

Egypt has also raised questions--mostly relating to translation--on sections involving the equitable treatment of girls and boys, on marriage, and on exploitation of and violence against women. Egypt was responsible for changes clarifying that individual nations will decide what kind of counseling to give women with unwanted pregnancies.

Islamic countries also joined the debate on reproductive rights. In the section dealing with the “right of couples and individuals to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence,” Libya, Iran, Algeria, Indonesia and the Central African Republic called for deletion of the word “individuals.” They said it would violate religious values by implying that single people have this right.

Islamic countries have joined the Vatican in voicing reservations about a phrase, “marriage and other unions,” that they say could be interpreted to include homosexual relationships. The language was originally inserted at the request of Caribbean and African nations to cover common-law marriages.

But Lionel Hurst, vice chairman of the drafting committee, said it is “very unlikely” the phrase will be changed. “Maybe we can include a footnote to say it doesn’t necessarily include homosexuality,” he said.

Debate on these issues is expected to last well through the weekend.

“There are still some difficult issues to do--very difficult,” said a member of the U.S. delegation. “It’s not over.”