Priests for Life took part in the United Nations 58th Session of the Commission for Population Development (CPD58) from April 7 – 11. This year’s theme was “Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages”. We participated in the main sessions as well as select side events, including the Family-Oriented Development to Promote the Well-Being of Women & Children in Africa, and we contributed a defense of unborn life statement to the Commission. Our statement said “Prenatal sex selection is violent discrimination that was recognized as a harmful practice in the Programme of Action which called on governments to eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of son preference, which can result in harmful and unethical practices such as female infanticide, prenatal sex selection, and violence against the girl child.”
The Trump effect was in full evidence as his representatives rejected “gender ideology extremism” and stated that the USA had rejoined the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which states that “abortion is not an international right” and that the family is the “natural and fundamental group unit of society.” The consensus document liberal countries expected was rejected by the USA, several GCD member countries and also objected to by the Holy See Mission.