(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 Chinas 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.
Comment - Kudos to the Bush administration and great reporting by LifeSite.com.
