A powerful UN committee is pushing Sri Lanka into legalising abortion under the guise of ‘Women’s Empowerment’.
The UN’s ‘Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’ has drafted a Bill which will be debated in the Sri Lanka parliament tomorrow.
A parliamentary committee has approved the Empowerment of Women Bill which claims to facilitate the ’empowerment of women by implementing mechanisms to protect their rights’. But, of course, included in those supposed ‘rights’ will be an invented ‘right’ to abortion.
Rachel weeping for her children
The Bible says:
Jeremiah 31:15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
In that light, a right to kill their own children does not ’empower’ women, it diminishes them.
The Bill was approved with conditions at the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Children, Women and Gender. It will be debated in the Sri Lanka Parliament tomorrow, 20th June 2024.
We are urging Christian people both in Sri Lanka and elsewhere to pray for wisdom for Sri Lanka and its Parliament.
Women’s Empowerment Bill
The Women’s Empowerment Bill includes the following provisions:
Advancement and Empowerment of Women: Introduce mechanisms to secure women’s rights in accordance with the Constitution.
International Obligations: Implement measures to fulfill Sri Lanka’s commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and applicable laws.
National Policy Implementation: Formulate and execute a national policy for the advancement and empowerment of women, ensuring timely interventions across all sectors and levels.
Protection Against Discrimination: Safeguard women from all forms of discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation.
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National policy on gender equality
The Women Empowerment bill and the UNFPA National Policy on gender has one thing in common- ‘gender equality’.
The National Policy on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Sri Lanka, was launched on International Women’s Day 2023.
It was developed by the Ministry of Women, Child Affairs, and Social Empowerment with support from UNFPA Sri Lanka and other UN agencies.
They claim the bill aims to ‘create a framework to guide and standardise laws, policies, and programs that promote gender equality and empower women across all sectors’.
UK promoting ‘Women’s Empowerment’
The UK has killed over 10 million pre-born babies since 1968. And you can be sure the UK has been exporting our current anti-life philosophy, bringing further judgment on us.
In a document from the British Embassy in Colombo, headed: ‘UK In Sri Lanka: #ChooseToChallenge for Gender Equality’, we read about ‘our policy advocacy’ and that the UK will ‘continue to work on a wide range of gender issues’. They say: ‘This includes … increasing women’s … empowerment.’
We have already reported on the UK Foreign Office financing pro-sodomy NGO’s in Sri Lanka. One can only imagine the row there would be if Sri Lanka were to be caught interfering in the internal affairs of the United Kingdom.
Gender policy or twisting the law?
Part of the National Policy on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment claims it seeks to promote gender equality. However, campaigners argue the draft policy aims to manipulate the law.
This concern is evident in a section of the document stating:; ‘Abortion is criminalised in Sri Lanka, unless to save the pregnant woman’s life.
‘While its legal status does not prevent women from seeking termination of pregnancy, it prevents women from seeking immediate medical assistance when complications occur and puts them at the risk of being charged for procuring illegal termination of pregnancy. As such, septic abortion has been one of the leading contributors to maternal deaths in Sri Lanka.
‘The basic health needs of LGBTIQ+ people and the general population are the same, yet their sexual orientation and gender identity acts as a barrier in accessing health related information and services, including reproductive health.
‘Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual Transgender Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI+) individuals are also often overlooked as victims of gender-based violence. Given the ambiguity in the law and punitive lens adopted by law enforcement against them, LGBTQI+ individuals and even commercial sex workers are cast outside of the regulated framework to access legal, medical and other support services. Female sex workers and their clients, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users are considered as vulnerable persons.
The Bible says,
Prov 25:5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
President bows to gender pressure
Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe has given in to the Western pressure of ‘woke gender ideologies’.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Parliament on 18th June raised a point of order, challenging the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Gender Equality Bill. He argued that the ruling infringes upon the legislative powers of the House.
Consequently, he called for the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee to examine the issue thoroughly.
President Wickremesinghe said:’First and foremost the bill says, what the national policy on gender equality and empowerment of women is referred to in this bill. At the least it’s hard to find out. It’s not specific as there is no reference in the bill. There has been a national policy on women’s empowerment and gender equality since 2011. These are obligations of the Government under the Sustainable Development Goals 5 and a number of women’s conventions and agreements that we have signed.
‘The Supreme Court cannot in any way go and make any ruling on this. Then they are contravening and coming into our area.
‘Secondly, there’s a large number of cases which have been given on the question of equality and equality of women. They have also ignored the special determination on the Penal Code Amendment, made by the Chief Justice. In this, we are talking of empowering women and ensuring equality for women’, he added.
President Ranil announced the bill on International Women’s Day with plans that the government will pass the bill by the end of June 2024.
The Bible says,
Psalm 11:3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
‘Pathway to legalising abortion and prostitution’
Church leaders and a civil society group have warned that the Gender Equality Bill in Sri Lanka is a ‘pathway to legalising abortion and prostitution’ under the guidance of the United Nations in the island nation.
Cultura Vitae, an organisation dedicated to combating abortion and prostitution worldwide, said the proposed bill would erode the sanctity of marriage and family values.
‘The constitution guarantees equality before the law and equal opportunity for all persons. So, the question is: why is the UN pushing the government of Sri Lanka to enact a gender equality bill?’.
A letter to parliament
In a recent letter to a Member of Parliament, Dr. Eshan Dias of Cultura Vitae, expressed concerns over the Women’s Empowerment Bill in Sri Lanka. The bill which aligns with the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), was gazetted on 7 March, 2024, and is scheduled for parliamentary discussion on 20 June, 2024.
Dr. Dias highlighted that the CEDAW Committee, comprising unelected radical feminists, responded to Sri Lanka’s eighth periodic submission by recommending significant legislative changes. These recommendations include legalising abortion not only when the pregnant woman’s life is at risk but also in cases of rape, incest, and severe fetal impairment, and decriminalising abortion in other cases. Additionally, the Committee suggested removing barriers to safe abortion services, such as the need for a judicial inquiry and a medical certificate.
Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Council also instructed Sri Lanka in April 2023 to liberalise abortion laws.
Dr. Eshan criticised these directives from unelected UN committees, arguing that they undermine Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and existing constitutional guarantees of equality before the law. He contended that the bill, influenced by Western governments through UN agents, could lead to the legalisation of abortion, prostitution, birth control education for children, and the normalisation of homosexuality.
He urged for the bill to be defeated, emphasising that Sri Lanka already has common-sense laws addressing violence and discrimination, and does not need to adopt provisions from supranational conventions.
CEDAW
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), is a body of 23 members on women’s issues from around the world. A total of 151 experts have served as members of the Committee since 1982
CEDAW claims it watches over the progress for women made in those countries that are the States parties to the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
In other words, (CEDAW), is a body that promotes and pushes Western laws paraded as human right to countries they described as ‘States parties to the 1979 Convention’.
According to the 23-member body, a country becomes a State party by ratifying or acceding to the Convention and thereby accepting a legal obligation to counteract discrimination against women.
‘The Committee monitors the implementation of national measures to fulfil this obligation and also makes recommendations on any issue affecting women to which it believes the States parties should devote more attention’.
Deut 27:25 Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.
See the members of the committee here.
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Read and pray
READ: Gen 4:10; Josh 07:10-11; Psa 082:08; Prov 6:16;Prov 9:10; Esther 4:14b; Psalm 127:3; Matt 24:28.
PRAY: For against leaders attempting to impose ungodly rules
Pray for Sri Lanka’s law makers
Pray against the push of legalising abortion
Pray for tomorrow’s sitting in Sri lanka’s parliament
Let us know what YOU think in the comments below.
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