A lawsuit filed against the Bush administration in US District Court reveals the long-time strategy of radical NGOs to circumvent democratic procedure in the United States and elsewhere, pro-life lawyers believe.

The suit, filed in US District Court by the US-based Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, seeks to overturn the Bush administration's reinstatement of the "Mexico City policy," which forbids US taxpayer dollars from supporting overseas groups that either promote or perform abortion. The suit reveals much about the long-term strategy of pro-abortion rights NGOs.

In court documents submitted by CRLP, the group describes its efforts to create 'customary law' - law established through the repetition of phrases such as "reproductive health and rights" in international treaties. CRLP lawyers hope that if "reproductive health" is mentioned enough times and by enough countries, the US will be forced to recognize abortion as a human right, regardless of what US voters, politicians, or jurists may think. As the CRLP suit asserts, "…generally recognized international legal norms may, if endorsed and accepted by the vast majority of nations, become part of customary international law and thus binding on the US even if it does not ratify or endorse those norms."

The group admits that it seeks to trump the American political process, if this process deviates from its central goal of unfettered access to legal abortions. Thus, CRLP lawyers "…prepare for the eventuality that Roe may be overturned by the United States…" by advancing customary law throughout the rest of the world. According to Richard Wilkins, professor of law at Brigham Young University, these tactics illustrate "CRLP's contempt for the American political system, as well as a disregard for more general notions of national sovereignty and democratic self-determination."

These tactics also underscore the importance of monitoring the often-arcane language used in international treaties and UN documents. Many pro-life and pro-family observers at the UN have warned of this customary law "creep," of the gradual accumulation of abortion language in UN documents. Wilkins believes that it is now certain that such NGOs are attempting to thrust "revolutionary social changes" on unsuspecting nations through clever phraseology and repetition.

In the suit, CRLP contends that Bush's Mexico City Policy violates the group's First Amendment right of freedom of speech; CRLP refers to the "Mexico City policy" as the "Bush global gag rule." But, according to Wilkins, censorship and funding decisions are distinct. "If this were censorship, then anyone who held a view that wasn't paid for by the government would also be a victim of censorship," said Wilkins.

Not a single UN resolution or international treaty has ever called for legalized abortion. Wilkins fears CRLP will eventually find a federal judge who will decide that "reproductive health and rights" actually means abortion and it will then be recognized as a human right.

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