Posted on 01/31/2002 3:51:34 AM PST by IM2Phat4U
Subj: Fw: 41-Important: Please Call the White House Now, Say "Zero For UNFPA"
Date: 1/30/02 5:07:35 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: rnclife@swbell.net (Colleen Parro)
Sender: rnclife-owner@bg1.iserver.net
To: rnclife@bg1.iserver.net
To all RNC/Life supporters:
Thanks to Father Peter West of Priests for life for this timely, succinct alert.
Please act on this right away. The President has the power to zero-out the $34 million congress has appropriated for the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). This UN agency funds coercive population control measures, including abortions, in the developing world. they provide assistance in China where the "one-child" policy causes so much pain and misery.
Not one dime of our tax money should be spent on UNFPA! Thanks, once again, for your help and dedication.
Best wishes,
Colleen Parro, Director
Republican National Coalition for Life
----- Original Message -----
Subject: 41-Important: Please Call the White House Now, Say "Zero For UNFPA"
Dear Friends,
Please call the White House and tell President Bush that the United States should not be funding UNFPA. Tell him you don't want your money to be used to promote forced abortion and sterilizations in countries like China and Peru.
The number is (202)456-1414. The White House is prepared to receive the calls. They are taking a tally. You don't need to spend a lot of time on the phone with the person taking the call. Just say "Zero for UNFPA."
Please do it now!
Sincerely,
Fr. Peter West
www.priestsforlife.org
-----Original Message-----
Subject: Friday Fax/National Campaign Rages For and Against US Funding for UN Agency
Dear Colleague,
Something smelly this way comes. There is going on what appears to be a very well orchestrated conspiracy of disinformation by UNFPA and a number of major US newspapers. UNFPA is campaigning for increased US funding. This week several big newspapers ran editorials in support of increased funding of UNFPA and most of them used identical language. It is as if they are all using talking points written by UNFPA. Did these newspapers bother to question UNFPA's assertion? No way.
At the same time, the White House has been inundated with phone calls from pro-lifers requesting that the White House give "Zero for UNFPA." They have the air game, we have the ground game.
Spread the word.
Yours sincerely,
Austin Ruse
President
Action item: Call the White House and say "Zero for UNFPA." Keep the pressure on. We can win this one. The number is 202-456-1414. It is easy and fast. Do it right now!
___________________________________________________________________________
FRIDAY FAX
January 18, 2002
Volume 5, Number 4
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN RAGES FOR AND AGAINST US FUNDING FOR UN AGENCY
As President Bush mulls whether the US should give $34 million to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), editorial boards across the nation have mobilized in support of the controversial UN agency. In what appears to be a well-orchestrated campaign, some of the same phrases appear in the various newspapers' articles. The editorials also repeat statistics and opinions directly from UNFPA sources, sometimes without attribution. One Congressional staff member who asked not to be identified said, "It seems like they are all writing off of the same talking points."
Both the San Francisco Chronicle and the Seattle Times assert that, if Bush decides to remove UNFPA funding from the Foreign Operations spending bill, he will be destroying a "carefully crafted bipartisan compromise."
The Houston Chronicle slightly modifies this language, writing that Bush's decision could endanger "a compromise carefully crafted in Congress."
Four newspapers repeat UNFPA claims that, without this $34 million, large numbers of women and children will suffer. As the Seattle Times writes, "U.N. officials estimate the loss of U.S. funding could hinder their efforts to prevent 800,000 abortions and the deaths of 4,700 mothers and 77,000 children under the age of 5." The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch and the Houston Chronicle used these same statistics but fail to identify their source. None of them acknowledges that one of the UN's head statisticians warned that, because of its advocacy role, UNFPA scholarship could not be trusted.
Many of the editorials attempt to blame a single Congressman, Christopher Smith (R-N.J.), for the controversy over UNFPA. According to the Washington Post, a letter Smith wrote to Bush "refers hysterically to the United Nation's giving 'standing ovations' to forced abortion in China.
The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch writes that "In a letter long on emotion but short on accuracy, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., claimed the United Nations gives 'standing ovations' to forced abortions in China." They do not mention that current UNFPA executive director Thoraya Obaid praised China's one-child policy in the Chinese People's Daily.
All of the editorials take UNFPA at its word that coercion has stopped in the Chinese counties in which UNFPA operates. None mentioned that the UNFPA investigation in China was carried out largely by UNFPA employees and associates, or that the investigators spoke to Chinese women only in the presence of Chinese government officials. Nor do they mention that an independent investigation carried out by the Population Research Institute found many women within the UNFPA-funded counties who claimed to be the victims of forced sterilizations and abortions.
While pro-UNFPA forces seem to be winning the air game, grass roots pro-life advocates seem to be winning the ground campaign. The White House reports that phone calls on UNFPA funding are "running heavy" and are said to favor "zeroing out UNFPA." It is not clear when the President will decide whether UNFPA gets nothing or anything up to $34 million.
Copyright - 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
It is quite sad that we even need to waste out time lobbying on something like this. President Reagan and Bush's father both denied funding to UNFPA. This is not even about being pro-life; rather, it is about not being actively pro-abortion by funding an organization that supports forced abortion.
If Bush's knees are getting wobbly over a no-brainer like this, what will happen when it is time to select a Supreme Court Justice?
President Bush needs to hear from us.
Who has large antlers, a high voice and wears white gloves?
Mickey Moose!
Now go call the White House.
Some House members are stepping up efforts to persuade the White House to withhold federal money from the United Nations Population Fund, which they say has supported forced abortions and other coercive practices by the Chinese government.
"By operating in China, spending money there, and defending the Chinese population control system, the UNFPA clearly supports a program of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization," states a letter that a bipartisan group of House members plan to send to the president later this week.
President Bush is considering withholding the $34 million Congress appropriated to the UNFPA as part of the foreign operations spending bill.
Republican Reps. Christopher H. Smith of New Jersey, Mike Pence of Indiana and Joseph R. Pitts of Pennsylvania are asking fellow House members to join them in sending to the White House the letter urging the president to withhold the funds. As of yesterday afternoon, six Republicans and three Democrats — Reps. Ronnie Shows of Mississippi, Marion Berry of Arkansas and David D. Phelps of Illinois — have agreed to join them, said a spokesman for Mr. Smith.
House GOP leaders are drafting a similar letter to send to the White House, a Republican aide said.
If you have a strong pro-life Congressman, you may also want to contact him and ask him to join the House effort to persuade Bush to do the right thing. And BTW, why is National Right to Life so quiet about this?
Let's not be too hasty now! Personally, I wouldn't mind having a few less Chinese around!!
I just hope your words do not become fulfilled prophecy soon. And the greatest crime is that the Democrat Senate leadership who will prevent strict constructionists from being nominated and confirmed are "catholic."
A Moose ate the UNFPA funding. Call the White House and demand your cheese.
Well, I would think that even Republicans who favor forced abortion might agree that we simply can't afford giving away $34 million right now.
IMHO, I think he has already made a decision on this and is going to withhold the funds. I think his people are working on generating support for this decision by urging us to call in.
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