GOP Congress Threatens Overseas Family Planning

[niyad]

GOP Congress Threatens Overseas Family Planning


Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, is expected to propose legislation that would permanently impose the Mexico City Policy, which has been a political flashpoint for three decades. United Nations health programs are a target too.


(WOMENSENEWS)-- U.S. foreign aid to family planning clinics in developing countries could face trouble when committees of the GOP-controlled 114th Congress begin work this week. Funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which provides reproductive health services in 180 countries, may also be at risk.

Although the U.S. has supported international family planning programs since 1969, the amount and scope of the programs has varied, depending on which party controls Congress and the White House.
"The midterm elections increased the stark divide on reproductive rights between Democrats and Republicans in Congress," said Brian Dixon, senior vice president for media and government relations of Population Connection Action Fund, the Washington-based political arm of Population Connection. Formerly known as Zero Population Growth, the grassroots organization seeks to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by the earth's resources.

"The loss of seven Democratic senators who were staunch supporters of international family planning programs and the ascendancy of Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as majority leader ended the Senate firewall that had prevented House Republicans from eliminating valuable programs for six years of the Obama administration," Dixon said in a phone interview.

One target may be the $630 million in foreign aid for international family planning programs for fiscal year 2015. A Republican-controlled Congress is likely to slash these programs as Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, author of the GOP's plan to balance the federal budget by 2023, has proposed.

. . . .



Reagan eliminated the entire U.S. contribution of $39 million to UNFPA in 1985 because he claimed that the organization's presence in China was tantamount to support for coercive sterilization because of China's one child per family policy. The ban continued until 1993 when Clinton decided that the UNFPA did not indirectly support the practice anywhere.

For seven years, the George W. Bush administration withheld a total of $244 million in funds appropriated by Congress for the UNFPA because of allegations that the money was supporting forced abortions in China. A State Department inquiry found that the allegation was false and Obama lifted the ban and restored funds in 2009.

Over the years, Democratic Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Barbara Lee of California and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut have championed the UNFPA and are expected to do so again.

They serve on key committees that recommend appropriations for the State Department. They are in a position to propose amendments designating funds for a U.S. contribution to the UNFPA to prevent and treat obstetric fistula, end female genital mutilation and ensure safe childbirth and emergency obstetric care as well as UNFPA family planning programs in places such as sub-Saharan Africa where there is a dire need.

Despite the obstacles, progress has been made in meeting the family planning needs of poor women in developing nations, notes Sarah Craven, chief of the Washington office of the UNFPA.

"Since UNFPA began in 1969, the number and rate of women dying from complications of pregnancy or childbirth has been cut in half," she said in a phone interview.

But, she added, there are still 225 million women who want to avoid or delay childbirth who lack access to quality reproductive services. "These women account for 81 percent of all unintended pregnancies in developing nations," Craven said.

. . . . .

http://womensenews.org/story/reproductive-health/150109/gop-congress-threatens-overseas-family-planning