Health emerged as the unexpected hurdle to an Earth Summit action plan yesterday as campaigners battled over words they say pitch practices like female circumcision against abortion rights.
Activists and delegations backed by Canada want the summit to link healthcare and human rights as part of a plan to fight poverty and protect the environment.
At present, governments are encouraged only to provide health services in line with national, cultural and religious values. Healthcare is the final hurdle to a deal at the 10-day summit, which ends today.
Canada toned down its demands yesterday afternoon, saying it was prepared to move the text to a different part of the accord. Women's groups said this was unacceptable.
Campaigners say the current wording may give a green light to practices such as female circumcision conducted in 28 African countries and in some countries in the Middle East, unless Canada's proposal, which is backed by the EU, is included.
Canada wanted to add the phrase "and in conformity with all human rights and fundamental freedoms" to a paragraph on healthcare services to ensure that a person's right to make decisions about their own body is a basic human right.
"If it's not \ the Johannesburg text will be a very bad day for women," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, told Reuters after briefly joining women protesting outside the conference centre where the summit was in its penultimate day.
Canada said it would be prepared to move the text on healthcare to one or more general women's rights to avoid a battle over procedure that could have paved the way for delegates to revisit texts believed to have been concluded.
"Some delegations have suggested moving the reference to another paragraph, but that is totally unacceptable, as it would mean that the counterbalance would be missing," the Women's Caucus group said.
Opponents of changes to the draft summit plan are said to worry that the human rights clause would allow women to choose abortion in countries where it is currently outlawed.
Women's rights campaigner June Zeitlin told Reuters that the US, the Vatican and some developing countries were opposed to any changes. "The boys in the room want it to go away," said Ms Zeitlin, of the US-based Women's Environment and Development Organisation. - (Reuters)