For Immediate Release:	September 15, 2006
For More Information:	Afshin Mohamadi, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14), 202-225-7944
Sponsor Organization:	Representative Carolyn Maloney (NY-14)
$34 million withheld from UNFPA, the world leader in family planning and maternal health need
WASHINGTON, DC – The Bush Administration has once again blocked United States’s $34 million contribution to UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund). The money was appropriated by Congress for FY06, but this is the fifth consecutive year in which the contribution has been withheld. The determination to de-fund UNFPA was apparently made on Wednesday (http://maloney.house.gov/documents/women/unfpa/20060913UNFPAdetermination.pdf ), but the State Department failed to notify the public. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14), who has led the Congressional effort to resume the U.S. contribution to UNFPA (http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_issues&task=view_issue&issue=270&parent=20&Itemid=35 ), said that the women and children in the world’s neediest nations are suffering because the Bush administration appeases its right-wing constituency. “This is the 5th year in a row that this administration has listened to its far right constituency at the expense of the world’s neediest women and children,”said Maloney. “It’s another in a series of actions that pander to the base while severely impacting women’s health. The administration didn’t let facts get in the way of its decision, and women suffer. “Clearly, this is not a decision the administration can rationalize, otherwise they would have informed the public.” With the money the administration has withheld over five years, it could have helped prevent up to 10 million unwanted pregnancies, 4 million induced abortions and 23,500 maternal deaths, as well as 385,000 infant and child deaths. Background: Since 2001, Congress has appropriated money to contribute to UNFPA each year, and each year the administration has withheld that contribution, invoking the Kemp-Kasten provision. The administration claims UNFPA supports the Chinese government in forced sterilizations and coercive abortions - a claim that was flatly refuted by the State Department’s own fact-finding team. Earlier in the 109th Congress, Maloney and a bipartisan group of colleagues, undertook a bold attempt to guarantee that the U.S.’s contribution to UNFPA would go through without the administration’s resistance, but it was defeated on the House floor (http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=81&Itemid=61 ). Maloney has also led efforts to send the U.S.’s contribution to specifically aid the UNFPA’s Campaign to End Fistula (http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=306&Itemid=61 ). Obstetric fistula is a condition that arises from poor pre-natal care and results in horrific and debilitating vaginal and intestinal injuries in women and, often times, stillborn babies. ###