U.N.-Accountable

The Weekly Standard, Letter to the Editor, February 16, 2004
Nancy Northup, President, Center for Reproductive RightsTo the Editor:JOSEPH BOTTUM’S editorial “No Abortion Left Behind” (Feb. 2) accuses our organization and others of shunning democratic processes in order to promote “unfettered access to abortion.” To the contrary, our purpose is to use democratic processes to achieve our goal–to promote and defend reproductive rights in the United States and around the world. We participate in democracy every time we advocate for better legislation or file a brief in a court or with a human rights body. We advocate and litigate because the constitutions approved by people in most of the world’s countries give courts the mandate to check governmental excesses that violate individual rights.Ensuring that governments respect and protect the rights of traditionally disenfranchised groups is a precondition of free and fair societies. In fact, in countries where democratic institutions, including legislatures and courts, are strongest, women have won legal protection for their reproductive rights.Finally, we do not use the term “reproductive rights” as code for abortion on demand, as Bottum implies. It is a phrase embodying a holistic approach to women’s reproductive and sexual health, at the heart of which is the right to decide when to have children and how many. Under such conditions, countries prosper, children thrive, and democracy is the winner.Nancy Northup
President, Center for Reproductive Rights
New York, NY

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/707pqoff.asp?pg=1