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)