Posted on 08/31/2007 7:27:11 PM PDT by monomaniac
Sweden Cuts Aid to Countries that Oppose its Pro-Abortion Stance
Said to be "very concerned" about abortion policies of Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Peru
Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
CENTRAL AMERICA, August 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- Sweden announced on Tuesday that it would completely sever aid to several countries that oppose its pro-abortion policy, including Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Peru.
Although the government of Sweden did not publicly attribute the decision to the abortion policies of the Latin American nations, the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa yesterday quoted anonymous sources who stated that the Swedish leadership, "was very concerned about the issue of therapeutic abortion." "What happened is that they are very involved in the area of health. The announcement is for the purpose of seeing if the debate over therapeutic abortion will be reopened again," the newspaper was told.
Two representatives in the Nicaraguan congress, Alba Placios and Wilfredo Navarro, accused the Swedish ambassador, Eva Zetterberg, of trying to use Sweden's foreign aid program to force abortion on the country
"The Swedes have been exerting pressure and conditioning all of their aid on meddling, principally the ambassador Eva Zetterberg...The basis for removing Swedish aid is the topic of abortion. Zetterberg is an open sponsor of abortion in Nicaragua." said Navarro.
The Swedish diplomatic corps in Nicaragua has repeatedly hinted to Nicaragua that continuing its policy of prohibiting abortions would jeopardize foriegn aid assistance from the country. Last year, when legislators were debating a new law that would make all direct abortions illegal, Zetterberg joined other ambassadors and leaders from United Nations agencies in urging the government not to pass the legislation. Zetterberg herself went to the Nicaraguan Congress to witness the vote, which was seen by some as an act of intimidation.
At a meeting last year of the Donor's Roundtable, a group of representatives of countries and UN agencies giving foreign aid to Nicaragua, Zetterberg told the media that the group "wants to ensure that mechanisms are planned to guarantee a better link between cooperation and government policies," and stated that "therapeutic abortion" was "a very important issue".
When the law banning abortions was passed, a group of feminist organizations with ties to international foundations appealed the ruling. The leader of the group, Ana Maria Pizarro, stated that Zetterberg and others in the "Donor's Roundtable" (whose members are representatives of foreign aid donors to Nicaragua) had asserted that "they saw it as a great inconsistency, given that the European cooperation is based on the promotion of human rights and respect for democratic liberties."
Although the government of Sweden did not did not directly cite the countries' abortion policies in its announcement, the Swedish ambassador to El Salvador stated that the changes in her country's foreign aid policy were meant to address topics such as "peace, security, democracy, and human rights", terms that are often used in relation to the pro-abortion agenda.
Two other countries in Central America that prohibit all abortions, El Salvador and Honduras, were also cut off, as well as Peru, which has also failed to buckle under pressure to loosen abortion restrictions.
The economist Nestor Avendano stated that the cuts would do serious harm to the most vulnerable sectors of the Nicaraguan economy, including health and education. "The government will have to reduce expenditures in other budgetary areas to be able to attend to those sectors with the same intensity," he told La Prensa.
However, Nicaragua also received news yesterday that Switzerland would more than triple its annual foreign aid to Nicaragua, from about $5 million to over $17 million annually for the next five years. This would partially offset the $21 million annual loss from Sweden's pullout.
Or maybe Sweden’s running out of money to give away since it’s been aborting all its potential taxpayers for a long time now.
Their money. Their business.
I’m calling it right here right now as I see with eyes unclouded into the future: by 2020 Sweden will have replaced its flag as to not offend people (ie remove the cross). Some nations will climb some will fall some will just quit.
“therapeutic abortion?” WTF?
It doesn’t matter,Islams taking over all of Europe anyhow and they don’t abort babies. True they occasionally blow em up,but they don’t abort em !!!
I didn’t even know that Sweden gave financial “Aid” to anyone.
I don’t hate many things … but, abortion is number one on my small lists of “hates”. Anybody that condones the killing of unborn babies is anathema to me and should be to anyone with a conscience.
The morally confused Swedes apparently believe that the best method of curing an innocent unborn baby of any sort of disease simply terminates his/her life. Street gangs in New Orleans, Louisiana frequently practice this particular healing art on somewhat older patients.
The morally confused Swedes apparently believe that the best method of curing an innocent unborn baby of any sort of disease simply terminates his/her life. Arab and Muslim street gangs in Malmö and other Swedish cities frequently practice this particular healing art on somewhat older patients, but they reserve an especially torturous therapy for women.
CORRECTED
I think we should follow Sweden’s lead and cut aid to other countries who are pro-abortion.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Sweden will phase out aid to more than 30 countries, including South Africa, Nicaragua and Vietnam, while giving priority to poor nations in Africa under a new strategy announced Monday.
The Scandinavian country is one of the world's top foreign aid donors, giving about 30 billion kronor (€3.2 billion; US$4.4 billion) annually — about 1 percent of its gross domestic product — to developing countries.
The center-right government said it will restructure its bilateral aid, which amounts to about 10 billion kronor (€1 billion; US$1.5 billion) a year, to emphasize fighting poverty in Africa and promoting democracy in eastern Europe.
As a result, the number of recipient countries will drop from 70 to 33, Aid Minister Gunilla Carlsson said.
Countries that will see Swedish aid phased out in the next four years include Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Russia, South Africa, Nicaragua and Honduras.
Russia, Nicaragua and Vietnam each received more than 300 million kronor (€30 million; US$40 million) in Swedish aid in 2005, while South Africa received 170 million kronor (€18 million; US$25 million).
"In some cases these are countries that have come so far that they can manage on their own," Carlsson told reporters at a news conference.
Under the new strategy, aid will be focused on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, the West Bank and Gaza, Iraq, Kosovo, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine, among others.
Swedish aid agency Sida welcomed the change, although acting Director-General Goran Holmqvist said the decision would likely be met with "alarm" in some of the affected countries.
Life is “holy” only if a baby can contribute to the state or the society.
Pregnant mothers in this country are allowed to take test to see if the unborn are ill or disabled. In most cases, if the baby seems to be disabled, an abortion also seems to be the only realistic alternative for many people.
Sweden is a very difficult country to be raised and to live in.
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