•HRES 1482 IH 
Whereas the United Nations Committee on the Elimination 
of Discrimination against Women (in this resolution re-
ferred to as the ‘‘CEDAW’’) monitors states who are par-
ties to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms 
of Disrimination Against Women (in this resolution re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Convention’’), to determine if a state 
has complied with and implemented the terms of the 
Convention; 
Whereas the unelected members of Human Rights Committee 
and the CEDAW operate without any formal oversight 
and are entirely unaccountable to the United Nations 
System and Member States; 
Whereas the unelected members of the Human Rights Com-
mittee and the CEDAW use General Comments and Gen-
eral Recommendations, respectively, to change the mean-
ing of the Covenant and the Convention from the original 
text negotiated by the sovereign states; 
Whereas no United Nations human rights treaty, including 
the Covenant and the Convention, mentions the word 
‘‘abortion’’, or establishes or implies a right to abortion; 
Whereas, on August 20, 1999, the CEDAW pressured the 
democratically elected government of the Republic of Ire-
land to change its laws restricting abortion, by issuing a 
Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimi-
nation against Women which stated ‘‘. . . the Committee 
is concerned that, with very limited exceptions, abortion 
remains illegal in Ireland.’’, and stated that the govern-
ment of Ireland ought to ‘‘. . . facilitate a national dia-
logue on women’s reproductive rights, including on the 
restrictive abortion laws.’’; 
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•HRES 1482 IH 
Whereas, on July 24, 2000, the Human Rights Committee 
attempted to coerce democratically the elected govern-
ment of the Republic of Ireland to change its laws re-
stricting abortion, implying that the Covenant obligates 
the Republic to do so, by issuing Concluding Observa-
tions on Ireland of the Human Rights Committee that 
stated ‘‘[t]he State should ensure that women are not 
compelled to continue with pregnancies where that is in-
compatible with obligations arising under the Covenant 
(art. 7) and General Comment No. 28.’’; 
Whereas, on July 22, 2005, the CEDAW pressured the 
democratically elected government of the Republic of Ire-
land to change its laws restricting abortion by issuing 
Concluding Comments on Ireland that stated ‘‘. . . the 
Committee reiterates its concern about the consequences 
of the very restrictive abortion laws under which abortion 
is prohibited except where it is established as a matter 
of probability that there is a real and substantial risk to 
the life of the mother that can be averted only by the ter-
mination of her pregnancy.’’; 
Whereas, on July 22, 2005, the CEDAW admitted in its 
Concluding Comments on Ireland, that ‘‘extensive na-
tional dialogue had occurred [in Ireland] on the issue of 
abortion, with five separate referendums held on three 
separate occasions.’’, but again pressured the democrat-
ically elected government of the Republic of Ireland to 
change its laws restricting abortion (while ignoring the 
rejection by the Irish people of five measures to liberalize 
those abortion laws) by ‘‘. . . urging the State party to 
continue to facilitate a national dialogue on women’s 
right to reproductive health, including the very restrictive 
abortion laws.’’; 
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•HRES 1482 IH 
Whereas, on July 30, 2008, the Concluding Observations on 
Ireland of the Human Rights Committee strongly pres-
sured and attempted to coerce the democratically elected 
government of the Republic of Ireland to change its laws 
restricting abortion, implying that the laws contravene 
the Convention, by stating ‘‘[t]he Committee reiterates 
its concern regarding the highly restrictive circumstances 
under which women can lawfully have an abortion in the 
State party.’’, and ‘‘[t]he State party should bring its 
abortion laws into line with the Covenant.’’; and 
Whereas the established pattern of pressure and attempted 
coercion from the Human Rights Committee and the 
CEDAW against the democratically elected government 
of the Republic of Ireland to change its laws restricting 
abortion represents a microcosm of the efforts of the 
United Nations Human Rights Treaty System (with the 
present exception of the Committee on Migrant Workers) 
to pressure and coerce over 80 states to change their 
laws restricting abortions: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) condemns the efforts of the Human Rights 
Committee of the United Nations and the United 
Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimi-
nation against Women to pressure and coerce the 
democratically elected government of the Republic of 
Ireland to reduce or eliminate its constitutionally es-
tablished abortion restrictions; 
(2) strongly rebukes the efforts of the Human 
Rights Committee of the United Nations and the 
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•HRES 1482 IH 
United Nations Committee on the Elimination of 
Discrimination against Women to interpret the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 
and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms 
of Disrimination Against Women as establishing the 
right to abortion; 
(3) calls into question the merit of using United 
States taxpayer-generated revenues to support the 
Human Rights Committee of the United Nations 
and the United Nations Committee on the Elimi-
nation of Discrimination against Women in light of 
the consistent work of the committees to promote 
the practice of abortion around the world; and 
(4) urges countries with restrictions on the 
practice of abortion to remain steadfast in the time- 
honored traditions and verities of their cultures, 
which recognize that every human being, born or un-
born, has an inherent right to life, despite the pres-
sure and coercion by the members of the United Na-
tions Human Rights Treaty System, whose positions 
and views on abortion are increasingly influenced by 
pro-abortion, non-governmental organizations such 
as the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Inter-
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•HRES 1482 IH 
national Women’s Health Coalition, and the Inter-
national Planned Parenthood Federation. 
Æ 
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