NEW YORK (LifeSiteNews) — On the sidelines of the United Nations’ annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a coalition of conservative organizations gathered March 13-14 in New York City to defend pro-life and pro-family policies.
Running in parallel with CSW, but outside the U.N. premises, the Conference on the State of Women and Family (CSWF) organized this two-day gathering of pro-family and pro-life nonprofit organizations. The Permanent Mission of Senegal to the U.N., Campaign Life Coalition, and the Center for Family & Human Rights (C-Fam) hosted a key event on March 13 titled “Supporting Women and Girls During Unplanned Pregnancies.”
In the opening remarks, C-Fam’s International Youth Coalition (IYc) Director Daniela García, who was the moderator for the event, drew from her experience growing up among adolescent girls in her native Colombia, many of whom became mothers as young as 14 years old, and, usually because of poverty, were unable “to provide basic needs for the newborns.”
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The panel included notable pro-life activist and former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson. Along with other pro-lifers, Johnson discussed ways to assist women and girls in unplanned pregnancies, such as helping girls from impoverished areas of the world complete their education after giving birth; providing genuine care for expectant mothers; and recognizing and filling any gaps in the pro-life advocacy to ensure that abortion is never an option.
Johnson blasted Planned Parenthood as a “cult” and warned about their depopulation agenda.
“Their goal was the same as it always [has] been: to eradicate groups of [the] population through widespread use of abortion and contraception,” she said. “The primary population that they are wanting to eliminate are impoverished people and minority groups.”
Johnson also mentioned several global projects that her organizations, And Then There Were None and ProLove Ministries, are undertaking to assist and support pregnant women and girls.
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“We help support girls who are pregnant and single moms in different parts of Africa get their education,” she continued. “We support many pregnancy centers throughout the world.”
Johnson said that pro-life activism is the key towards making abortion unthinkable. “This is how we end abortion, not just through laws,” she said. “It is going to be through a culture change.”
Elhadj Magatte Ndaw of the Permanent Mission of Senegal also spoke at the event, affirming his country’s support for life.
“Unplanned pregnancies for women and girls as always been an issue of concern,” Ndaw said. “To respond to these problems our public policies have undertaken measures to considerably reduce maternal and infant mortality.”
Ndaw also highlighted the need to protect women and girls from the dangers posed by tele-abortions.
Other organizations were represented at the event. Emily Berning of Let Them Live spoke of their work in encouraging women to choose life amidst financial burden. Millie Lace, founder and Director of Concepts for Truth International, slammed CSW68 for showing poster boards of “safe and legal abortions.” Allison Lind of CounterAct USA emphasized that average young people have the enthusiasm to unlock their potential and be evangelizers for life.
As previously reported, events surrounding CSW have been discriminatory towards pro-lifers. Back in 2022, the Non-Government Organization Committee on the Status of Women, New York (NGO CSW/NY) rejected Campaign Life Coalition’s application to hold a side event. This year’s 68th session of CSW also drew criticism primarily because a gender-confused man, Martin “Katie” Neeves, was selected as a delegate representing the United Kingdom.