Jasiri

I came across an interesting fact the other day. In 1979, the United Nations adopted The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

…it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

Of the 192 member States of the United Nations, 184 are party to the Convention.

By accepting the Convention, States commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms…

Ok, so here is where the interesting fact comes in. The United States is not included in the over 90% of States who are party to the Convention.

The convention is the only human rights treaty which affirms the reproductive rights of women…Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice.

So I’m back to that interesting fact. The United States has signed, “but not ratified, the treaty therefore it is not bound to put the provisions of the treaty into practice.” Now I’m wondering about the reasons for the U.S. refusal to become party to the Convention. If we were party, would that mean women would no longer have to worry about the threat of Roe v. Wade being overturned? Things that make you go–hmmm?