The U.S. presidential election is likely to benefit the United Nations Fund for Population (UNFPA) and other women'shealth organizations if the Democratic presidentialcandidate, Mr Barack Obama, is elected.
President George W. Bush has withheld since 2002 the$235 million the U.S. Congress allocated to UNFPA, which specializes in women'shealth, including maternal mortality and voluntary family planning in many countries in Africa.
In October, the Bush administration alsostopped providing contraceptives to family planning clinics run by Marie Stopes International in Africa, alleging that itsoperations in China condone forced abortions and forced sterlisation, the same complaint it launched against UNFPA, despite denials by both groups.
The cut in funding has had an impact in rural Africa wheremany mothers rely on UNFPA sponsored family planning services. MSI saysthat the cut on the supply of contraceptives could seriously hamper its work in at least six African countries- Ghana, Malawi, SierraLeone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. USAID, theUS Agency for International Development, is the biggest supplier of contraceptives in these countries.
"Only the Bush administration could find logic in the ideathat they can somehow reduce abortion and promote choice for women in China bycausing more abortion and gutting choice for women in Africa," MSI president, Mr. Dana Hovig, explained in a statement last month.
"This decision is disheartening because it contradictsclear evidence that UNFPA works hard to end coercion by proving the efficacy and superiority of the voluntary approach to family planning over any otheralternative", said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA's Executive Director soonafter Mr. Bush announced his decision in 2002.
It's no secret that China's family planning programme is deemed coercive. Fears of forced sterilisations have existed for years. But MSI andUNFPA have long argued that their work in no way support forced sterilisationor coerced abortions – a point verified by independent observers. Instead theysay they give women safe means for controlling their own bodies.
A major challenge in Africa today is the need for family planning,as well as assistance in fighting AIDS and maternal mortality, which needs avery important boost from organizations such as UNFPA and MSI.
Despite all this, outgoing President Bush deserves muchcredit for supporting different development programmes in Africa, including the provision of billions of dollars in funding to fight AIDS and malaria,U.S. officials stress.
However, one of the first acts he did after becoming president wasto stop all US funds to foreign organisations that helped women in any way toget an abortion, even in countries where it is legal, including providingadvice.
"It is my conviction that taxpayer funds should not be usedto pay for abortions or advocate or actively promote abortion, either here orabroad," Mr. Bush wrote at the time in a memorandum to the head of USAID.
According to MSI, this could result into more abortions. Itestimates that MSI will lose $1.5m worth of supplies in the next year, resulting in 325,000 extra unwanted pregnancies in the six Africancountries and 65,000 abortions.
USAID justified its policy under the Kemp-Kasten Amendment whichprohibits US foreign aid to any organisation that, according to PresidentBush, "supports or participates in the management of a programme ofcoercive abortion or involuntary sterilisation". Republican Partyadministrations dating back to President Ronald Reagan have usedthe law to deny funding to UNFPA.
"We receive funding from 166 nations that believe instrengthening UNFPA's role as a leading voice for human rights in familyplanning, safe motherhood and AIDS prevention. I hope the United States will rejoin the family of nations that support our multilateral work toeliminate maternal deaths, prevent HIV/AIDS, empower women and reducepoverty", Ms. Obaid said.
She said U.S. officials had hinted that the money would have beenrestored had UNFPA pulled out of China. But she said such a move wouldhave put the agency at risk of taking a variety of instructions from a varietyof governments in the future.
In a statement early last month, MSI outlined the potentialconsequences of such a move:
"MSI's family planning services prevented 5-7 millionunwanted pregnancies in 2007 alone, thus preventing 1-1.5 million abortions.Most of these abortions would have been unsafe, putting women's lives at risk."For every two intra-uterine devices (IUDs) the US government denies MSI,an unsafe abortion could result unless MSI is able to findalternative supplies," MSI president Dana Hovig explained.
MSI has categorically denied that it supports forced abortions orcoercive sterilisation in China or anywhere else in the world, and says thatthe actions of the Bush government will result in more abortions in Africa, aswomen will be unable to get contraceptives and will end up with unwantedpregnancies.
But the Obama campaign, in an October 2007 response to asurvey from the pro-abortion RH Reality Check web site, confirmed thepresidential candidate would restore funding to UNFPA. Mr. Obama stronglysupports taking steps to reduce the number of teen pregnancies and abortions inthis country.
"If elected president would Sen. Obama, overturn theGlobal Gag Rule or reinstate funding for UNFPA," the web site asked.
"Yes, Senator Obama would overturn the global gagrule and reinstate funding for UNFPA," Obama's campaign responded.
Mr. Obama also said at a town hall meeting in Johnstown in Marchthis year in response to a question about sex education, not abortion, notingthat he had two daughters "and I am going to teach them first about valuesand morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with ababy."
Later, the Obama campaign sought to clarify their candidate'sremarks. Spokesman Tommy Vietor noted that Mr. Obama believes "childrenare miracles, but we have a problem when so many children are havingchildren." He added that Mr. Obama strongly supports taking steps toreduce the number of teen pregnancies and abortions in the United States.
