For Immediate Release:	September 15, 2006
For More Information:	Jennifer Seltzer Stitt, The Population Institute, jstitt@populationinstitute.org, 202-544-3300
Sponsor Organization:	Population Institute
For the fifth straight year, the President has placed political maneuvering above the health of millions of women and children in the developing world.
President Bush’s decision to once again withhold $34 million appropriated by Congress for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) forfeits yet another opportunity for the United States to regain its leadership in providing population and family planning assistance to the world’s poorest people. For the fifth straight year, the President has placed political maneuvering above the health of millions of women and children in the developing world. The Bush Administration first withheld funding in 2002 based on unsubstantiated claims that UNFPA supported coerced abortions and involuntary sterilizations in conjunction with China’s one-child family policy. Investigations by the United Nations, by British parliamentarians, and, ironically, by a team hand-picked by the Administration showed UNFPA to be an effective force in preventing coercive and inhumane policies. The evidence shows that abortions decreased in the 32 counties where UNFPA operates, and there were impressive decreases in maternal and child mortality. Sadly, the implications of the President’s action are felt far beyond the relatively small China program. By refusing funding to UNFPA, President Bush denies crucial health programs that are vital to underserved populations in over 140 countries, areas and territories. UNFPA programs encompass more than reproductive health; they include programs to reduce infant and maternal mortality, prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, and prevent and treat obstetric fistula, as well as important efforts toward eradication of gender disparity and exploitation. Continuing to deny funding to UNFPA based on the claim that it supports coerced abortions defies both reason and decency. For years the United States was a leading supporter of UNFPA. By reversing this long-standing role and pandering to an extremist minority, the Bush administration is playing politics at the expense of providing women with the means to take control of their health, their families and their lives. Lawrence Smith Jr., Ph.D. is the President of the Population Institute, a Washington, DC based organization seeking a more equitable balance between the world’s population, environment and resources.