Anschluss watch # 47862946423

UN Economic and Social Council Commission on the Status of Women
Draft Resolution : The international community to continue to provide urgently needed assistance and services in an effort to alleviate the dire humanitarian crisis being faced by Palestinian women and their families, and approve a text on the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child.

Included : A revision to address pregnant Palestinian women giving birth at Israeli checkpoints owing to denial of access to hospitals by Israel.

March 10, 2006
In favour : (41) Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, China, Congo, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania.

Against: Canada, United States.

July 24, 2007
In favour : (38) Algeria, Austria, Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Cape Verde, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, Thailand and United Kingdom.

Against : Canada and United States.

Ironically today's UN vote coincides with an announcement from Peter MacKay that Canada has resumed aid to Palestine.
Would it kill us to also vote for Palestinian women being allowed to give birth in hospitals, regardless of how the US voted?

Checkpoint Childbirth Excellent post on this from Fern Hill at Birth Pangs, giving it a much more human face. Why did a pregnant Palestinian woman spend 8 hours at a checkpoint 20 minutes from the hospital, before finally giving birth to twins in the backseat of her car and losing one of them for lack of medical attention?
Why did Canada vote for this and where is the media coverage?