Jul 25, 2002 2 min read

President Bush announced this week that he will not grant $34 million that Congress appropriated this year for the United Nations Population Fund. Before Right-to-Lifers crack open the bubbly in celebration of Bush’s strong stance aimed at China and its one child policy that forces abortions and sterilizations on women against their will, think about this. China is but just one country covered by the UNPFA. That $34 million could have prevented the deaths of more than 77,000 infants and children, saved the lives of 4,700 women and prevented 2 million unwanted pregnancies, nearly 800,000 abortions and 60,000 cases of maternal illnesses.

The fund, by the way, denies funding China’s despicable practices and a fact-finding mission, dispatched earlier this year by the president, found no evidence of participation.

So Bush’s stance is purely ideological and a bow to pressure from anti-abortion supporters. Yet this action itself condemns many more women and babies to death as lifesaving services and health care provided by UNPFA will be cut off. What about their rights to life?

It is difficult to understand the logic used to support this ideology when no UNPFA money funds abortion – whether by force or by choice – in any of the 141 countries it serves. The money is used to help people learn about family planning (to prevent unwanted pregnancies and hence abortions) as a way to improve their health and economic conditions.