UNFPA Denied U.S. Funds for Fourth Year

WASHINGTON, September 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The White House has once again denied the controversial United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) financial backing – for the fourth year running, despite assurances from the UNFPA that it is not involved in coercive abortion in China. The UNFPA would normally receive $34 million; instead, $25 million will be redirected to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

US law prohibits the country from contributing to any organization that participates in coercive abortion – a practice widely acknowledged in Communist-ruled China. Despite alleging that they have no participation in this practice – as a press release from the UN dated today claims – other groups continue to document evidence that the UNFPA is directly involved in funding and aiding China’s coerced abortion program.

The United States refuses to fund the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) based on its U.S. Department of State investigations. Last December Arthur Dewey, the U.S. assistant secretary of State for the bureau of population, refugees, and migration made a presentation to the House International Relations Committee, stating that “UNFPA support of, and participation in, China's population-planning activities allows the Chinese government to implement more effectively its program of coercive abortion, thus triggering the Kemp-Kasten prohibition on support to any organization that supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.” The result has been that the United States has not funded UNFPA during the past three years.

Canada is a country that has refused to change its policies, notwithstanding repeated requests from the US to the international community to withdraw funding from UNFPA, and despite the overwhelming evidence of abuse against women. Instead, during President Bush's visit to Canada last November, Canada announced a $67 million increase (over four years) to its annual $13.1 million UNFPA contribution. According to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, “UNFPA is helping improve the administration of the local family planning offices that are administering the very social compensation fee and other penalties that are effectively coercing women to have abortions.”

Dear Colleague,

President Bush is to be congratulated once more for withholding US funding for the UN Population Fund. UNFPA supports the Chinese One Child Policy which has been found repeatedly to be coercive. Pro-lifers all over the world should praise President Bush by emailing him at comments@whitehouse.gov and simply say "Thanks, Mr. President, for defunding UNFPA." Do it now wherever you are.

Spread the word.

Yours sincerely,

Austin Ruse
President

US Refuses to Fund UNFPA for the Fourth Consecutive Year

The State Department announced that the US could not fund the United Nations Population Fund because the organization aids China 's "One-Child Policy," a population control program that continues to coerce Chinese women into having abortions. The decision to prevent UNFPA from receiving the $34 million earmarked by Congress is the fourth time the international organization has been denied funds for their involvement in China 's family planning policies.

A State Department made the announcement in a statement issued September 17. "The Secretary first determined that Kemp-Kasten Amendment restrictions applied to the UN Population Fund in 2002. Since that time, we have continuously called on China to ends its program of coercive abortion. We have also repeatedly urged China and the UN Population Fund to restructure the organization's programs in a way that would allow the United States to provide funding. We will continue these consultations. However, since no key changes have taken place, these restrictions are being applied again."

The UNFPA responded to the news by claiming that "The Administration's stated reason for continuing to withhold funds is simply incorrect, as an assessment team sent to China by the Administration itself found no evidence that UNFPA supports coercive abortions or sterilization . . . Other independent teams, from the British Parliament and a multi-faith panel of religious leaders, reached the same conclusion . . ."

But both British and American representatives determined that China 's family planning program engages in coercive abortions and that the UNFPA is complicit in those practices whether knowingly or unknowingly. A State Department analysis of the topic issued in 2002 found that the "UNFPA provides millions of dollars in financial support for [ China 's] family-planning activities in the 32 counties in which it operates" for various equipment. "Although such equipment has legitimate uses, it also facilitates the imposition of social compensation fees" which are exorbitant charges families must pay to have more than one child.

At a speech delivered this summer to the Executive Board of UNFPA, Kelly Ryan, a state department official, was critical of China and the UNFPA. "Why doesn't UNFPA insist that it will not work in a county where couples are not free to determine the timing of childbirth?" And later she asked, "And finally, it is our understanding that abortions are mandatory in most of China for pregnant unwed mothers; how does the UNFPA adolescent reproductive health program deal with this issue?"

But many UN watchers emphasize that problems with the UNFPA extend beyond its support of the one-child policy. The organization has completely failed at reducing rates of maternal mortality and some say it is because they take a "rights based" approach to the problem rather than address real public health threats.

Copyright 2005 - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute).
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.

Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 427
New York, New York 10017
Phone: (212) 754-5948 Fax: (212) 754-9291
E-mail: c-fam@c-fam.org Website: www.c-fam.org

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.