Bush
administration again withholds funds from U.N.
Population Fund

For the fourth year in a row, the Bush administration intends to withhold funding from the United Nations agency that provides family planning services and maternal health care to women around the world, saying it contributes to China's "coercive abortion" program. Congress had appropriated $34 million for the U.N. Population Fund but gave President Bush the final decision on whether to spend the money.

UNPF executive director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid called the decision disheartening. UNPF is supported by 166 countries "that believe in strengthening [its] role as a leading voice for human rights in family planning, safe motherhood, and AIDS prevention," Obaid said in a statement. "I hope the United States will rejoin the family of nations that support our multilateral work. Our task is made more urgent by the fact that more than 300 million poor women in the world suffer from illnesses related to pregnancy or childbirth, with more than half a million of them dying each year."

Several House Democrats were critical of the decision, which was disclosed in a letter from Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns to key senators. Democratic representative Nita Lowey of New York called it "a blow to our efforts to improve women's health around the world."

China has denied using any coercive tactics in its population control efforts. (AP)