Vatican Blasts Gore Over Abortion and Birth Control
Undetermined origin c/o Postmaster
CLASH OF WILLS IN CAIRO
As the big population conference opens, Muslims are boycotting, and the
Vatican is blasting Al Gore
BY CHRISTINE GORMAN
It was supposed to be a landmark meeting -- a harmonious gathering of
nations to establish the principle that the key to curbing population
growth lies in giving women more control over their own health and
reproduction. Instead the International Conference on Population and
Development, being held in Cairo this week, was in danger of falling
apart before it even got started. An unusual convergence of interests
between Roman Catholic and Muslim leaders put the organizers of the
United Nations-sponsored conference on the defensive around the flash
points of abortion and sex education for teens. At least two Prime
Ministers from Islamic countries decided, at the last minute, not to
attend, and four Middle Eastern nations announced they were boycotting
the affair entirely. At the same time, the Vatican made a highly
unusual personal attack on the leader of the U.S. delegation, Vice
President Al Gore, for his government's prominent role in setting the
agenda.
The goal of the conference is to reach general agreement on how to
control the world's population, which is 5.7 billion and headed toward a
disastrous 10 billion by the year 2050. Many issues are not in dispute;
in fact, more than 90% of a draft document has been agreed on by
representatives of 180 U.N. member countries. But the remaining 10%
contains some bombshells. One proposal calls for extending
contraceptive services directly to adolescents. Equally controversial
is language urging governments to protect the millions of women who die
each year from unsafe abortions.
Such notions stirred not only predictable opposition from the Vatican
but also an uproar in the Islamic world, where abortion is generally
forbidden. Belatedly, conference supporters tried to fend off a Muslim
boycott. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called his old friend King
Fahd of Saudi Arabia, who was meeting with the Council of Ulama, his
nation's highest body of religious authorities. But Mubarak's effort
was futile. On the following day, the council condemned the Cairo
conference as a "ferocious assault on Islamic society" and forbade
Muslims from attending. Sudan, Lebanon and Iraq then joined Saudi
Arabia in announcing that they would send no delegates to Cairo.
Soon after, the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, Najmuddin Sheikh, phoned
Dr. Nafis Sadik, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund and
one of the conference's main organizers. The Pakistani official had bad
news: concerned about opposition at home, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
was reconsidering her decision to attend the conference. Sadik knew
that Bhutto's absence could be especially damaging. Not only was she to
deliver a keynote speech, but she would also be the only female head of
a Muslim country in attendance. Prime Ministers Tansu Ciller of Turkey
and Begum Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh had both backed out, although their
countries were still sending delegations. Herself a Pakistani Muslim,
Sadik reassured Bhutto's Foreign Secretary that "all opposing views
would be discussed" at the conference. At week's end Islamabad
reaffirmed Bhutto's commitment to be in Cairo.
But then came another blow: President Suharto of Indonesia, the most
populous Muslim nation, would not show up. "He fell ill" was the only
explanation a conference spokesman gave.
While some Muslim leaders were dropping out, the Vatican's strategy was
to have a strong vocal presence at the conference. Last week the Pope's
chief spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, accused Vice President Gore of
misrepresenting the U.S. position on abortion. Referring to a recent
speech in which Gore stated that "the U.S. has not sought, does not
seek and will not seek to establish any international right to
abortion," Navarro-Valls said, "The draft document, which has the United
States as its principal sponsor, contradicts, in reality, Mr. Gore's
statement." To bolster his claim, Navarro-Valls cited a U.N. proposal
that women "have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable
methods of fertility regulation." That language, he contended, was meant
to include the right to abortion.
Sadik, meanwhile, counterattacked. "There is so much misinformation
going around that it generates its own momentum," she said. "I don't
think the conference opponents have even read the draft document."
Egyptian Population Minister Dr. Maher Mahran was more emphatic. "We
all live in one boat," he told a gathering of Arab organizations just
prior to the conference. "No country can withdraw, set itself aside,
and those who do this are defeatists." At least one prominent
conservative Egyptian religious leader defended the meeting, assuring
Muslims that Mubarak had promised the U.N. document would not impose
rules contravening Islamic teaching.
Increasing the tension level were fears that dissent could turn into
violence. Islamic fundamentalists who are seeking to overthrow Mubarak
warned delegates not to come to Cairo. In response, the government
deployed a 14,000-strong police force with the sole assignment of
protecting the expected 20,000 conference participants. But no one
could guarantee peace in the streets -- or any kind of meaningful
consensus inside the meeting hall.
Reported by Greg Burke/Rome and Lara Marlowe/Beirut
Copyright 1994 Time Inc. All rights reserved.