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United States Supports Resolution on 'Reproductive Rights' at U.N. Economic Commission Meeting, Adds Clarification
(Kaisernetwork) The United States and other North, South and Central American countries on Friday -- on the last day of the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean conference in Puerto Rico -- backed a resolution to support "reproductive rights," with the caveat that the term does not express support for abortion, the Associated Press reports. Delegates from 41 countries approved resolutions on population and the rights of women at the end of the five-day meeting, according to the Associated Press. Although the United States joined the other countries in supporting the resolution, its delegation issued a statement saying that it "understands that the term 'reproductive rights' ... does not constitute support, endorsement or promotion of abortion." The delegation also said that the term "sexual rights," which was included in the resolution on the rights of women, could be interpreted "to include harmful sexual activities affecting children, adolescents and adults," according to the Associated Press.
$34 Million
Some advocacy groups at the conference had accused the United States of trying to influence smaller countries to support more restrictive policies on contraception and abortion, although U.S. officials denied the allegations, the Associated Press reports (Aldridge, Associated Press, 7/2).
United Nations Population Fund Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid on Wednesday called on President Bush to release $34 million in funds appropriated by Congress but blocked by the Bush administration. The Senate in January voted 65-28 to approve an omnibus spending bill (HR 2673) that included $34 million for UNFPA. The House in December 2003 approved the bill, which combined seven of the 13 fiscal year 2004 spending bills. UNFPA officials have said that the $34 million could be used to prevent two million unplanned pregnancies and approximately 800,000 abortions, according to the Associated Press. Obaid said, "We hope there is a change in policy that will allow (Bush) to release the funds that have been given to us by U.S. Congress," adding, "We do have support from both parties in the Congress to allocate money for the agency. It is the president who has decided not to release the money" (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 7/1).
According to the Associated Press, an unnamed senior U.S. official on Thursday said that the U.S. government is reviewing whether to lift its ban on the funding (Associated Press, 7/2).
New York Times Editorial
The Bush administration's withholding of funds from UNFPA "is not really about abortion," a New York Times editorial says, adding, "It is an attack on comprehensive family planning and women's sexual and reproductive autonomy, driven largely by right-wing ideologues unswervingly opposed to all forms of family planning and contraceptive use." The fund "supports programs in some 141 countries to advance poor women's reproductive health, reduce infant mortality, end the sexual trafficking of women and prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS," the Times says. However, the Bush administration this year is expected to withhold $34 million for the fund that Congress has appropriated, "much as President Bush blocked the $34 million Congress approved in 2002 and last year's $25 million allocation," the Times says. By withholding the funds, the administration "has perpetuated a bogus accusation" that UNFPA supports coerced abortion in China, the editorial says, concluding that "the United States is helping to deny vulnerable women living in isolated rural areas essential information and services needed to avoid pregnancy and disease" (New York Times, 7/5).
(c) 2004 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation
Source: Kaisernetwork
Publish Date: July 6, 2004
Online at: http://ifrl.org/IFRLDailyNews/040706/5
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