Malta sandwiched between EU and USA

Malta has always taken a conservative line about women's reproductive rights at international United Nations conferences. As a member of the European Union, Malta has new obligations and it is being squeezed between liberal EU positions and Catholic conventions. With added pressure from the Americans, Malta, like Poland, is increasingly becoming cornered. Julien's List reproduces an article on the Guardian by Mary-Ann Stephenson reporting on the current ten year review of the United Nations Conference on Women ( known as the Beijing Women's Summit of 1995). From the 'educated eclectic blog' via the Guardian:

For all George Bush's courting of Europe, when it comes to women's reproductive rights he is closer to Iran and Syria than the EU. In 1995, representatives from 189 countries met in Beijing and agreed a major program on women's equality and human rights - the Beijing platform for action. This statement was ambitious, and the UN commission on the status of women is currently meeting in New York to review its progress over the past decade. The meeting was to publish a statement reaffirming international support for the platform for action. But the US has refused to support it unless it is amended to say that the platform does not create any new human rights or the right to abortion..

It's not just abortion rights that the US is opposed to. At an Asian and Pacific conference last year on population and development, the US delegation tried to eliminate all references to condom use as a way of preventing the spread of HIV/Aids, insisting on a policy of "simple abstinence". The US was isolated, and its position was defeated by 32 votes to one.

At the start of last week, the US had looked similarly isolated, but its tactics of picking off one country at a time through a familiar combination of promises and threats appear to be working. The EU is standing firm, issuing a statement reaffirming its support for the platform and placing emphasis on the need to pay greater attention to sexual and reproductive health and rights. But some activists are worried that countries such as Poland and Malta are coming under intense pressure. Fears of a US-led backlash have already affected UN activities on women's human rights.

Beijing + 10 Conference on Women review

Abortion-Pushing NGOs at UN Aided by Canada and EU Against the US - from LifeSite

European Socialists challenging Bush administration over abortion

United Nations abortion push - Wired Temples