Posted on 09/24/2004 7:45:26 PM PDT by franky
Dear readers:
Having received this newsletter, I felt it was appropriate to correct the misconceptions about the UN therein. I write not to incite but simply to educate. We are fortunate to live in a country where people are free to share their views and to discuss them.
Having interned at the UN, studied at the UN in Geneva Switzerland, having worked with a leading, global, non-governmental maternal and child health organization and having traveled extensively through and lived in the "developing world", I must categorically refute the insinuation that the UN promotes abortion.
I am referring to the statement: For those of us not familiar with the UN and its offspring’s, the UNFPA is the worlds largest multilateral source of population assistance. Since it became operational in 1969, it has provided help to developing countries, at their request, to meet reproductive health needs and support development efforts. In other words, ABORTION!
The UNFPA does NOT advocate abortion. It advocates a woman's right to control her reproductive rights. After all, women's rights are human rights. Unfortunately, people that live in the "developed" world fail to understand that women in "developing" countries do not have the same rights as they do. The quote by Ms. Thoraya Obaid, UNFPA's Executive Director, that Mr. ------ utilized in his newsletter is actually taken from the text of the speech that Ms. Obaid gave at global NGO meeting in London on Aug. 31 2004. http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=494
In her speech Ms. Obaid states the following:
"In 2004, it is a crime that women still die because they are having babies," she declared, referring to the persistence of high maternal death in many developing countries, especially among the poor and young women. "We know what to do: increase access to skilled access at birth and to emergency obstetric care."
"Because it is poor women who are suffering and dying, maternal mortality is a crisis that does not get the urgent attention it deserves," she added in a later working group discussion.
"Half of the 14,000 people newly infected each day with HIV are women, and half are between ages 15 and 24," Ms. Obaid told reporters. We must ensure that young people have the knowledge and means to protect themselves."
Support from developed countries for reproductive health programmes falls far short of commitments made at the ICPD. Donors’ share of funding for contraceptive supplies and condoms for HIV/AIDS prevention has declined by one-third since 1994, and needs for such commodities will grow 40 per cent by 2015.
An increase in funds for the ICPD action plan is critical to realizing the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for 2015, including halving extreme poverty and hunger, slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS, empowering women and reducing maternal mortality. “Unless serious attention is given to reproductive health,” Ms. Obaid asserted, “the MDGs cannot be achieved.”
As you can clearly see, both Ms. Obaid and UNFPA advocate family planning, safety in maternal and child health issues, and education on seriously pressing global health issues.
In addition, I would like to add my own example. As I noted, I worked for a leading, global, maternal and child health NGO. In our studies on the African continent, we came across many problems with men categorically refusing to use protection during sexual intercourse. Many of the men were married but would continue to have sex with multiple other partners. It is a cultural issue. While the organization did not advocate the men's behavior, it allowed women the option of utilizing birth control pills and the female condom. Neither of these is abortion, it is giving a woman the right to control her fertility and therefore her life.
I invite you to visit the UNFPA website as well as other organizations that work with women to improve the quality of their lives. www.unfpa.org
www.psi.org
http://www.ijm.org/
http://dmoz.org/Health/Women's_Health/Organizations/
Is there a difference between these to statements? Abortion is the only reproductive "right" out there, so this is a fallacious argument.
Murder for "choice" is ok, but not for self-defense. the un sucks and we should forcibly remove all of them from US soil.
To be fair, as the article states, in some cultures even the use of non-abortifacient birth control measures is prevented.
So who cares what the UN says. All they are good for is to steal oil for food money, sit by while hundreds of people are getting slaughtered, and condemn anyone who wants to put a stop to it. Put me down for a NO vote for the UN.
Another dubious factiod.
Africa..sad place. The UN has helped Africa to get where it is today. We need to take of our own lady.
The UNFPA does NOT advocate abortion. It advocates a woman's right to control her reproductive rights.
Can anyone tell me what the difference is? To most rational human beings there is no difference as far as I can tell. It is amazing how far this culture of death will go to further their aganda.
vpintheak, read my post #5. Don't get me wrong I'm a pro-lifer but I do have to agree on a factual basis that there is more to reproductive rights than abortion. They are synonymous here in the U.S. just because there is so little dispute about such things as non-abortifacient contraception.
Can't disagree there.
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