Statements by Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright on International Family Planning

Testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs, March 15, 2000, Washington, D.C.:

“First of all, I think one thing that we need for the American public to know is that when we talk about family planning, we are talking about family planning, not in promoting abortions.  I think that has been a misunderstanding.  And I think that our work on family planning is among the most important aspects of our foreign policy.  As I travel around the world, I always meet with women's groups and the issues that they talk about is their ability to have choice, not only in what jobs they have and how they live but how they are able to plan their families and are able to contribute to their economies and their societies.  And as we know, in most countries, women are more than half the population and I believe it's a stability and democracy initiative to make sure that women's issues and family planning issues are central to our foreign policy.

I have to say that, of the various decisions that I've had to make as secretary of  State, one of the hardest and most unpleasant was the choosing between the UN and the restrictions that we had to take last year.  I felt it was frankly an abomination in terms of having to choose on these two issues and I think it is very important that we make up for it this time.

President Clinton and I agree with you that the restrictions on our family planning assistance hinder free speech and are anti-democratic.  And as the president has said, we don't believe it is appropriate to limit foreign NGOs' use of their own money or their ability to participate in the democratic process in their own countries.  And we will oppose any kind of Mexico city language for these reasons.  We also are asking for funding up to the previous levels.  Thank you.”

Statement before the House International Relations Committee during the President’s FY20001 International Affairs Budget Request, Washington, D.C., February 16, 2000 (Full-text available on-line at http://secretary.state.gov/www/statements/index.html).

“Last year, with this Committee’s leadership, Congress approved legislation enabling the United States to begin paying down the arrears we owe to the United Nations. Unfortunately, that law included unwise restrictions on our support for international family planning. I ask your help in seeing that these restrictions are not attached to legislation this year.

Contrary to what some believe, the United States does not provide any funds to perform or promote abortions overseas. Instead, our assistance is used for family planning services that reduce abortions, promote maternal and child health, and save lives.

Pregnancy-related complications kill an estimated 600,000 women every year. They are the leading cause of mortality among women of reproductive age in developing countries. And experts believe that perhaps one in every four of these deaths could be prevented through access to family planning.

Family planning also saves the lives of children. Eleven million boys and girls die each year before reaching the age of five. Many could be saved if births were spaced further apart, and mothers bore a higher proportion of their children during their healthiest reproductive years.

Accordingly, President Clinton is asking Congress this year to return U.S. support for international family planning to 1995 levels. Moreover, we believe that private groups overseas should be able to exercise their right of free speech and publicize their views for or against reproductive rights without fearing loss of U.S. funding. The restrictions imposed upon such groups this year should not be carried over into next.”

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