April 30, 2002

 

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush,

As people of faith and leaders in the religious community, we are deeply concerned that you are considering defunding the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). We urge you to release the full appropriation of $34 million for the UNFPA in the Fiscal Year 2002 Budget. Religious leaders actively supported the founding of the UN and continue to believe that the UN and its agencies are critical vehicles for world peace and justice. We recognize the importance of the United Nations in providing the world with humanitarian assistance, especially to those living in developing countries. As a UN agency, UNFPA is vital to the reproductive health needs of women, men and their families by providing life-saving services such as family planning, and HIV/AIDS prevention, counseling and services to people living in developing countries around the world.

As people of faith, we understand that women and men must have access to information and services so they can act morally and responsibly in their sexual behavior. Highly respected religious leaders have supported modern family planning as a moral good.

The Dalai Lama has said that "family planning is crucial, especially in the developing world." Anglican Bishop Desmund Tutu stated, "Planned parenthood is an obligation of those who are Christians. Our church thinks we should use scientific methods that assist in planning families."

As people of faith we oppose any coercive measures in reproductive health. We believe that UNFPA has been unequivocally committed to providing informed and voluntary family planning. The agency has used, and continues to use, its stature as a UN agency to help governments, like China, to move more and more towards respect for the rights of women and men to decide for themselves on the number and spacing of their children and to move away from draconian practices. The agency deserves and needs your support.

Again, we respectfully urge you to respond with compassion and provide $34 million for the UNFPA to help them promote the health and well-being of women and families around the world.

Sincerely,

PARTIAL LIST OF SIGNATORIES

Rev. Rose Teteki Abbey

Presbyterian Church of Ghana

Rabbi Rebecca Alpert

Associate Professor of Religion and Women's Studies

Temple University, USA

Guinn Blackwell-Eagleson

Minister of Word and Sacrament

Presbyterian Church USA

Rev. Daniel Budd

First Unitarian Church of Cleveland, USA

Albert G. Cohen

Executive Director, Southern California Ecumenical Council

United Church of Christ, USA

Rev. Tom Davis

Chair, Clergy Advisory Board, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

United Church of Christ, USA

Behjat Dehghan

Muslim

President, Association of Iranian Women-USA (AIWUSA)

Dr. Farid Esack

Muslim

Distinguished Walter Mason Fellow in Religion

College of William and Mary

South Africa/USA

Sr. Maureen Fiedler, SL

Roman Catholic

Radio host, Interfaith Voices USA

Prof. Paul H. Gundani

Roman Catholic

Director, United Religions Initiative, Zimbabwe

Dr. Anke Hoenkamp-Bisschops

Catholic Theological University Utrecht, The Netherlands

Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory

Director, Washington Office

Presbyterian Church USA

June Jacobs

President, International Council of Jewish Women

United Kingdom

Mohammad Hashim Kamali

Muslim

Professor of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence

International Islamic University Malaysia

Rev. Peter Laarman

Senior Minister, Judson Memorial Church

New York, USA

David R. Loy, Ph.D.

Zen Buddhist, Professor in Faculty of International Relations

Bunkyo University, Chigasaki, Japan

Rev. Dr. James B. Martin-Schramm

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Associate Professor of Religion, Luther College, USA

Rev. Timothy McDonald, III

President, African American Ministers Leadership Council

Pastor, First Iconium Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Eriya Murana

Roman Catholic

Branch Manager, AIDS Information Centre, Uganda

Msgr. Dr. Francis Ndamira

National Director, Caritas Uganda

Uganda Catholic Secretariat, Uganda

Mira Poljakovic

President, League of Jewish Women Yugoslavia

Dr. Tavivat Puntarigvivat

Director, Institute of Research and Development

The World Buddhist University, Thailand

Dr. John Raines

Ordained United Methodist Minister

Professor of Religion, Temple University, USA

USA

Dr. Norbert Scholl

Former professor for Catholic Theology and

Religious Teaching at the Pedagogical School, Heidelberg

Germany

Dr. Arvind Sharma

Hindu

Birks Professor of Comparative Religion

McGill University, Canada

Lene Sjorup, Ph.D.

Lutheran

Consultant, Religion and Development, Denmark

Valerie J. Stroud

Coordinator, We Are Church, United Kingdom

John Swomley

Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics

St. Paul School of Theology, USA

Dr. Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Buddhist

President, Sakyadhita: International Association of Buddhist Women, USA

Sr. Ngozi Uti, HHCJ

Roman Catholic

Centre for Women Studies and Intervention, Nigeria

Lonnie Valentine

Religious Society of Friends

Associate Professor of Peace & Justice Studies, Earlham School of Religion, USA

Rev. Carlton Veazey, M.A.

Baptist

Executive Director, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, USA

Heinz-Juergen Vogels

Roman Catholic

International Federation of Married Catholic Priests, Germany

Ashok Vohra

Hindu

Professor of Philosophy, University of Delhi, India

Elisabeth Denby Wilkes

Roman Catholic

President, Demain l'Eglise, France

James E. Winkler

General Secretary

General Board of Church & Society of The United Methodist Church

USA, Europe, Asia and Africa

Cc:

Colin Powell, Secretary of State

Arthur E. Dewey, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration

John Negroponte, United States Ambassador to the United Nations

Representative James Kolbe, Chair, Foreign Operations subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee

Representative Nita Lowey, Ranking Member, Foreign Operations subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee

Senator Patrick Leahy, Chair, Foreign Operations subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee

Senator Mitch McConnell, Ranking Member, Foreign Operations subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee