For Immediate Release:	July 16, 2004
For More Information:	David Carle, Office of Sen. Patrick Leahy, 202-224-3693
Sponsor Organization:	Office of Sen. Patrick Leahy
The State Department Friday announced that President Bush will again withhold funds appropriated by Congress for the U.S. contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) because of China's practice of coercive abortions. Following is the reaction of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Subcommittee on Foreign Operations (of the Appropriations Committee), who authored the amendment to provide a $34 million contribution to UNFPA.
"This crass decision is one more example of the White House pretending to follow the law while they subvert the law. The refusal to comply with the intent of Congress by withholding funds for an organization that promotes family planning and reproductive health services to save women's lives represents the worst of extremist, election year politics. They know full well that this decision will result in more abortions, not fewer abortions, and it will only weaken UNFPA's efforts to end coercion in China. "The President's political advisors should spend one day in rural China or Tanzania or Romania and see for themselves what women in these and many other impoverished countries suffer because they do not have access to family planning or safe birthing services. Hundreds of thousands of women die needlessly from pregnancy-related causes, and millions more resort to unsafe abortions that UNFPA works to prevent."