Seattle Press on Line - Bush's Upside Down Family Planning Policy

Guest Editorial

Bush's Upside Down Family Planning Policy

By Joy Livingstone

Apr 04, 2002 -- Let's talk about President Bush's upside down logic regarding family planning funds.

In December 2001, $34 million was overwhelmingly approved by Congress for the United Nations Family Planning Fund (UNFPA), and supported by Secretary of State Colin Powell, but the money has not been released by the White House. Why? Because of misinformation.

Representative Chris Smith, R-NJ, has misrepresented the UNFPA policy as supporting forced abortion and sterilizations in China. The facts are that
UNFPA never had a family planning program in China and the UNFPA does not provide abortion services anywhere in the world. UNFPA provides assistance
only at the request of governments. The $34 million that is presently blocked in the White House is earmarked for programs in 140 countries which do not
include China.

What the UNFPA does have now in China is a pilot program in which women in 32 counties are being counseled on voluntary reproductive choice. When women are given the choice and the know-how, it seems they automatically choose to have smaller families.

In January 2002 alone, 36 newspaper editorials and articles across the country, including one in the Seattle Times, called for the release of the $34 million. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has said that defunding UNFPA won't prevent abortion. "The United Nations family planning unit is the surest antiabortion investment around," it said. "It's hard to imagine a more decent enterprise, or a more sensible antiabortion effort." --January 26, 2002

The Pioneer Press of St. Paul, Minnesota says this action by the White House "makes the United States look loony to the rest of the world." --January 18, 2002.

The $34 million approved for UNFPA will prevent 800,000 abortions, 4,700 maternal deaths and the deaths of 77,000 children under the age of five.

It is estimated that there are 33 million unintended full-term pregnancies and 46 million induced abortions.

33 million plus 46 million equals 79 million unintended pregnancies every year worldwide.

Concerned about abortions?

LOGIC : Family planning reduces abortions.

LOGIC: If preventive contraception is not available, some women will use
abortion as the contraceptive method.

LOGIC: Release the $34 million yesterday.

If something felt vaguely uncomfortable as you read those figures perhaps it 's because I said that the $34 million to UNFPA is expected to prevent 800,000 abortions, yet I also said there are an estimated 46 million induced abortions annually. There is quite a gap between 800,000 and 46 million. You are right. They don't jibe. The dissonance is legitimate and worthy of curiosity. Don't you wonder how much funding the UNFPA would really need to do a reasonable job of helping women prevent the unintended pregnancies that lead to 46 million induced abortions?

150 million married couples do not have access to effective contraceptive methods and services and 500,000 maternal deaths occur annually from preventable causes.

Then what about the 4,700 maternal deaths I said the $34 million could help prevent, yet there are about 500,000 maternal deaths from preventable causes per year? Another gap.

Every day this $34 million is delayed adds risk to the lives of women and children, and increases the risk of induced abortions. Our legislators are responding!

On March 7, 2002, Representative Caroline Maloney, D-NY, sponsored the Saving Women's Lives Act which will release the $34 million already approved and also allocate $50 Million to the UNFPA for Fiscal Year 2003. Folks who'd like to do something to help should communicate their support to their Congressional representatives. It will save women's lives.

The other instance of upside down logic is known as the "Global Gag Rule" which Mr. Bush implemented on his second day in office, January 22, 2001.

What is the "Global Gag Rule"?

Simply this. It denies any U.S. family planning money to any international organization that provides legal abortions, counseling about abortions, referrals on abortions, or public debates about abortions--even if they are using their own non-U.S. funds to do so. International family planning workers are gagged from speaking about abortion. Period. In their own countries. Using their own funds. Or else the USA will pull its family planning monies.

The "Global Gag Rule" is also referred to as the "Mexico City Policy" because of its origins there at a United Nations population conference in 1984 during President Reagan's administration.

Why is the "Global Gag Rule" upside down? Because since, in 1973, an amendment by Senator Jesse Helms made it illegal for U.S. funds to support abortions as a method of family planning, U.S. funds were not in danger of being spent for those reasons anyway. And by what moral argument does Mr. Bush justify restricting what other countries may speak about while using their own non-U.S. funds when--another twist--in our own country we are free to speak about abortion and free to seek abortions?

The "Global Gag Rule" restricts the freedom of speech in other countries when we uphold freedom of speech as a constitutional democratic principle in our own country.

The Global Democracy Promotion Act will seek to repeal the "Global Gag Rule". Concerned readers can urge their Congressional representatives to support it. It is identified by Senate bill 367 or House bill 755.

For assistance in locating a member of Congress, folks may call (800) POP-1956 or double click with the left mouse on the "Legislative Action Center" circle at the top right hand corner of the Zero Population Growth Home Page.

There is some encouraging news on the population front. There's been an unexpected decline in population rates as "poor women assert control" (New York Times, March 10, 2002, Barbara Crossette). Good news indeed. But let us not be lulled into false complacency.

Currently about three billion people--about half of the world's population--is now under age 25. Never before have there been so many young people reaching their peak reproductive years. As the overall average global fertility rate has fallen, experts believe in the implication of a population momentum as there have never been so many young men and women in the history of the world.

"Even if fertility rates drop to 2.1 (replacement level fertility) it would take many generations for population stabilization to occur. The key to a more stable population is an age structure that has roughly equal numbers in each age group." --National Wildlife Federation

In 1994, at the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the U.S. and other countries made a commitment to have universal access to family planning by year 2015. We must hold our legislators to that commitment. Dramatic changes, up or down, can occur in our lifetime since reproduction can begin around age 14.

As a proportion of its GNP, the United States spends the least of any industrialized nation on family planning. This makes poor sense when every dollar invested in family planning saves $16 on health, education and social services in future humanitarian aid.

In October 2001, $600,000 was contributed to the women of Afghanistan through the UNFPA by the Bush Administration, and it provided birthing kits in refugee camps which possibly saved the lives of Afghan women. But let's not feel too self-congratulatory. How many billions of dollars have been spent on military operations, and why, again, is the $34 million for UNFPA frozen in the Oval Office? Please explain it to a displaced Afghan woman.

Women in Afghanistan, who have an average of seven children each, are fortunate to have a bed to lie on to deliver their babies. There might be no surgeon in case of a Caesarean section, there may be no hot water. Afghan women "often give birth unattended, lying on bare ground, or on dirty mattresses in crowded clinics. The kit provides a clean plastic sheet to lie on, a razor to cut the umbilical cord, a string to tie it off and soap so that 'the baby can be welcomed into the world by someone with clean hands' in the words of a UNFPA official." --The Toronto Star, Jan 25, 2002

At the start of Operation Enduring Freedom there were 56,000 pregnant women in refugee camps and 300,000 pregnant women displaced inside the Afghan borders.

From March 8 - 12, 2002, fourteen people from Washington State, including myself, attended a conference in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club and Zero Population Growth, whose new name is The Population Connection. We also lobbied our legislators.

The guest speaker at lunch on Saturday was Mr. Abubakar Dungus of the UNFPA. He told us the story of Kamira, a 36-year-old woman in Kabul.

Kamira has been pregnant 16 times. When asked by her doctor how many children were alive, she replied, "Eight." When asked by her doctor if she wanted to have so many children, she replied, "How was I to know I had a choice?"

Sadly, Kamira is not unusual in Afghanistan.

Indeed, women's freedoms are undeniably linked to their right to reproductive information and reproductive choice. If we champion the freedom of Afghan women, or women anywhere, it goes without saying that reproductive choice is fundamental to that freedom. It is the heart of the matter. It is a basic human right.

Mrs. Bush has championed the empowerment of the Afghan women, but dare I ask her to go a bit further? Women's right to reproductive choice everywhere needs to be championed--and backed up with the necessary funding. The $34 million needs to be released, the "Global Gag Rule" needs to be repealed. Mr. Bush's upside down family planning logic must not rule.

Note: Universal access to family planning by Year 2015. That was our promise in 1994 in Cairo. Lets keep that promise. "Our Promise in Cairo", the author's next article, will be forthcoming.

Joy Livingstone is an active volunteer with the local chapter of Zero Population Growth.

Reader Comments

Discuss this article in the forums!


Courtney Williams	Apr 08, 2003	205 North Wonders Hall, East Lansing, MI 48825	student
You say Kamira has been pregnant 16 times. There is a simple solution. Don't have sex, just don't. It's not that difficult.


Katie Wrightmire	Oct 08, 2003	Potsdam, NY	Student (SUNY Potsdam)
Don't have sex? That's the answer? You're talking about a country made up of millions of people. It is impossible for all of us to share a common view point. We're human, like it or not, sex IS a part of our existence, and it IS going to happen. Many people use contraceptives in monogamous relationships, so that they can still engage in sexual activity with their loved one, yet not concieve a child every time. Under Bush's new policy, our population could skyrocket, therefore increasing poverty rates. We cannot say something as simple as "Don't have sex" and hope that an entire society will understand. All we can do... is prevent--and inform.


Sarah Kessler	Oct 08, 2003	Ithaca, NY	Student, Ithaca College
The problem with the majority of the people in this world is grasping the concept of acceptance. No one can understand that no one else thinks the way they do, no one else will ever understand how one feels. So, instead of acknowledging this, we try to force our own ideals down everyone else's throats. Personally, I say that if a person is not ready to accept what consequences MAY result from sex, or don't KNOW what those consequences really entail, then don't do it. It is simple, but just to me... it's an opinion. Some people don't believe that and some people will strongly disagree with that, and that's ok. Well anyway, what I wanted to write is... why can't we just agree to disagree?


Jamie Fallon	Oct 09, 2003	Potsdam, NY	student SUNY POTSDAM
Courtney Williams Apr 08, 2003 205 North Wonders Hall, East Lansing, MI 48825 student You say Kamira has been pregnant 16 times. There is a simple solution. Don't have sex, just don't. It's not that difficult. Are you kidding me?? You are going to try and tell an oversexualized nation not to have sex? JUST DON'T DO IT??? that's not possible. we're animals and we want to have sex. we should have sex if we understand the consequences and take the proper measures to ensure our safety. Casual sex is becoming increasingly popular in America. This is a scary thing, but it is a fact. Children are becoming sexualized at a much younger age than in generations past. Education about safe sex, abortion and other aspects relating to these issues are extremely important. If you want to prevent abortions, fight the "Global Gag Rule," not the urge to have healthy safe sex with a trusted partner. Sure, abstinence is the only sure-fire way to prevent pregnancy and STD's, but like I said we are animals. You are completely wrong when you say there is a simple solution. There is not. However, there are some things we can do to prevent these things from happening and one of the major ones is to fight the "Global Gag Rule." Family planning organizations such as planned parenthood are crucial. Many women and men have no other access to information on these topics. No one wants to talk about these issues. Sex education in schools is a joke and many parents don't have the necessary talks with their children. In many cases, these organizations are the only way for people to become educated. When we are educated we can make smarter choices to prevent bad things from happening.


john north	Dec 15, 2003	plattsburgh	student SUNY PLATTSBURGH
I don't know why you guys are arguiing about this. I can't even get a girl to have sex with me, let alone worry about pregnancy. so who cares.