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Volume 10, Number 26
June 14, 2007
US House Democrats Seek to Support Pro-Abortion Groups Overseas
(NEW YORK — C-FAM) On Tuesday, the US House Appropriations Committee approved a foreign aid spending bill that would allow the federal government to give contraceptives rather than money to international groups otherwise barred from receiving US money because of their abortion policies. This provision would create an exception to the Mexico City Policy which prohibits US taxpayer money from going to groups that support abortion, even with their own money, through direct services, counseling or lobbying activities.
Representative Nita Lowey (D-New York), chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, claims the measure does not change the current federal policy which does not allow federal funding to go to groups that provide or promote abortion as a method of family planning and that it “simply allows for the provision of lifesaving contraceptives.”
Opponents of the proposal cited a letter President Bush sent last month to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In his letter, President Bush states that he would veto any legislation that would weaken federal policies or laws on abortion, including those that would “allow taxpayer dollars to be used for the destruction of human life.”
An email to supporters from the bill's sponsor, Representative Russ Carnahan (D- Missouri) claims that Mexico City Policy has caused a global short-fall of contraceptives that places "millions" of people at risk of disease and unintended pregnancies. Besides creating a targeted exemption from the Mexico City Policy, Carnahan’s bill also doubles the amount of funding US Agency for International Development (USAID) is authorized to spend on contraceptives and condoms from $75 million to $150 million annually. As it is the US is already the largest supplier of contraceptives in the world.
The Mexico City Policy was originally implemented by then-president Reagan at a population conference in 1984. The policy was rescinded by Bill Clinton in 1993. It was reinstated by President Bush on his first day in office in 2001.
Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, told the Friday Fax about a chance meeting she had with a Kenyan doctor who gave a first hand account of how International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and other pro-abortion groups received aid during the Clinton administration and used it to monetarily entice doctors to defy Kenya’s pro-life laws and perform abortions. Wright commended President Bush for his commitment to protecting life and said, “The Mexico City Policy is more effective than many of us knew. President Bush's policy of protecting life by not allowing tax-dollars to subsidize organizations that promote abortion has a multi-fold effect. It saves lives.”
The bill is expected to be debated by the full House and Senate in the coming weeks.
