Youth Blog

On Tuesday, April 30th, I attended a Side Event at the 57th Commission on Population and Development (CPD) at the UN Headquarters in New York titled “Sexual and reproductive health and rights: central to health, wellbeing, and sustainable futures,” to commemorate ICPD+30. However, what unfolded was a stark display of the pro-abortion agenda, cloaked under the guise of promoting health and rights. 

During the panel discussion, each speaker championed the cause of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), which, in their terminology, heavily emphasized access to contraception and abortion. Levi Singh spoke passionately about engaging young people in SRH services, using technology to connect them with health services. Singh emphasized the need to reclaim the narrative around SRHR, noting the resistance from conservative forces. He seemed to believe that the opposition had successfully isolated SRHR, and his solution was to integrate it into broader social issues. 

Monserrath Lopez focused on grassroots movements and youth-led projects. She highlighted the importance of innovation in improving access to SRH services, especially for marginalized communities. Lopez's message was clear: young people need more empowerment through SRHR, which, disturbingly, includes easier access to abortion. Atul Gawande from USAID reiterated the importance of individual autonomy over one’s body, emphasizing that family planning and reproductive health services are crucial for women’s rights. His statistics about the impact of USAID’s services underscored the sheer scale of abortion and contraception services being pushed globally. 

Chris Carter from FCDO tied gender equality to SRHR, praising the UK's investments in family planning and its staunch support for controversial topics like abortion and adolescent SRHR. Yolanda Varela from Mexico’s National Center for Gender Equity and Reproductive Health discussed Mexico’s alignment with international SRHR agreements. Disturbingly, she mentioned a Sexual and Reproductive Rights booklet for Adolescents and Young People, which promotes the idea of the “full and pleasurable enjoyment of sexuality” for young people. Instead of teaching children about the sanctity of marriage and self-respect, this approach pushes them towards premature sexualization. 

During the event, participants were encouraged to engage by submitting questions via a QR code, which would then appear on a screen for everyone to see. I seized this opportunity and submitted, "Abortion kills children."

https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k10/k1072epm4d time 12:49 
 

For a brief moment, my message pierced the room. The organizers quickly changed the screen once they realized the room wasn't filled with only like-minded individuals. The UN is supposed to be a place for difficult conversations and diverse opinions, but this incident revealed their discomfort with opposing views. 

After the event, I approached one of the panelists to share our information card outlining that there is no international right to abortion, but there is a right to life. Disappointingly, the panelist was not open to a conversation. It was evident that she, like many others at the event, expected unanimous agreement with her pro-abortion stance. 

The Side Event at the CPD was a glaring reminder of the ongoing push to normalize and expand access to abortion under the umbrella of SRHR. From promoting sexual pleasure for adolescents to dismissing dissenting voices, the event highlighted the challenges faced by those who advocate for the sanctity of life and the protection of the unborn. It is crucial that we continue to speak out and remind these international bodies that true health and well-being cannot come at the expense of innocent lives.