Bush Withholds Money for U.N. Family Planning Fund

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush withheld $25 million in funding from the United Nations Population Fund on Friday in a move likely to appeal to opponents of abortion as he seeks reelection.

But the U.N. agency said the decision was misguided and that the funding that was denied could have prevented 1.5 million unwanted pregnancies and 588,000 abortions worldwide.

-snip-

The Bush administration has denied over $90 million to the U.N. Population Fund since 2002 at the urging of conservative groups and lawmakers who insist it contributes to abortion in China through its association with the Beijing government.


The fund, which works with family planning and reproductive health organizations in more than 140 countries, said none of its activities leads to coercive abortion in China.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041001/pl_nm/bush_abortion_dc&e=1&ncid=

[OKNancy]

1. I have nothing really intellectual to say about this

Just: I hate that s.o.b.
God, how I pray that he will be gone and we can get this country and this world, for that matter, back to some sanity.

[wildflower]

2. This is why women should be voting for Kerry...

Well, at least one of the reasons.

-wildflower

[n2mark]

3. My only words are

The Shrub has no brain!

[MaineDem]

4. This has been a pet peeve of mine for years

Every since he first withheld funding!

The UNFPA prevents abortions by educating women around the world about birth control. It also provides prenatal health benefits to women in poor countries. More babies are born healthy because of this. This president is an incompetent idiot who doesn't realize this.

"W stands for women"??? No f'in way!

[aneerkoinos]

13. Most importantly

UNFPA together with other UN agencies and NGO's has been very succesfull in bringing down the fertility rates close to the zero growth level of 2,3 in ways that respect human dignity - through literacy programs, teaching girls to read and to liberate themselves, through spreading info on birth control methods, etc. The worst scenarios of population explosion have been avoided and humanity may have some hope after all.

There are Powers in this world (servants of Yaldabaoth I call them) that want to spread ignorance to produce the suffering they feed upon, and Bush and Pope are the visible incarnations of those Powers. But it should be understood that those Powers are present in each of us and the only way not to be slaved by them is to become consciouss about the ways they work in each of us.

[Skittles]

5. he is too busy killing children in Iraq

nt

[AndyTiedye]

6. They Oppose Birth Control Too, and Will Ban It If they Can

[saracat]

7. No one watches on a Friday!

I wish his mother had aborted him. What a blot on the face of humanity. Yeah < and they can highjack this post if they want to show how "mean spirited" I am.

[DBoon]

8. We wouldn't have this issue

If Barbara Bush had made proper use of contraceptives

[Rose Siding]

9. With this, he sentences women and babies to death

That fund provides sterile packs for places where women give birth on dirt floors. He's a monster.

[Princess Turandot]

10. One of the first things he did after inaugurated was to reverse..

Bill Clinton's executive order, which reversed Reagan's order that the US provide no funds to any foreign health mission that discusses family planning (even if they do not perform abortions at all.)
This is an extension of that order, I assume.

[RareLubbockDem]

If you don't at first see the significance of this,

please visit www.populationinstitute.org

My wife is on the board of this organization. Let us know what you think.

[RareLubbockDem]

11. If you don't at first see the significance of this,

please visit www.populationinstitute.org

My wife is on the board of this organization. Let us know what you think.

[theHandpuppet]

15. Thanks for the link!

Looks like a great site for a cause I fully support. I'm going to bookmark this one for future reference.

Overpopulation is the roaring elephant in the living room that no one wants to talk about, though it affects SO MANY global issues like health care, poverty, the environment, et al. Even on the DU fora one takes their life in their hands bringing up the subject, especially if you're in favor of limiting the size of families, even voluntarily. I could go on, but don't want to hijack this thread.

[RareLubbockDem]

16. i really do hope everyone will take a look at the site

they do really good work and have lots of information on there. You're right, this is a big issue that no one wants to talk about, or maybe they just don't realize how important it is. I dunno. But it's huge, and when things happen like this with the UNFPA money, it only gets worse.

I'd also encourage you to look at this site: http://www.34millionfriends.org/

`

[nightperson]

19. Overpopulation can't be talked about enough.

Like you say, it underlies so,so,so many other problems, and still nobody talks about it. Even now, when the repubs are just begging for a shaming and a shunning.

[Amigust]

12. Bush is responsible for so many unjustified deaths

Scapegoating China, the Bush administration throws sop to his Christian fundamentalist base by withholding funds from UNFPA, thus assuring worldwide during fiscal years 2002-2004 (do the arithmetic):

* 12,600 maternal deaths

* 205,200 infant deaths

* 2,116,800 abortions

* 5,400,000 unwanted pregnancies

This appears to be what Bush and his regressive fundamentalist base call "family values".

You think this is bad? Add to this his criminal irresponsibility in putting neanderthal Christian fundamentalists in charge of policy governing reproductive health programs, AIDS programs, and sex education programs.

Add to this his blatant disregard for human life and suffering by denying millions worldwide the access to affordable AIDS drugs, outlawing the distribution of cheap generics via international trade agreements.

Add it up. It comes to MILLIONS of deaths and untold suffering. Where is the public outrage?!

[MaineDem]

14. Kick in disgust!

This is an abomination! I hate this man and his policies so much.

[blindpig]

17. cold blooded sob

I really believe that these people are against all forms of birth control. Overpopulation provides more market while depressing the value of labor, a win-win situation for these swine. I know there is a school of thought that holds the opposite; that the elite intend to achieve population stability at the cost of people of color thru war. disease, starvation etc. Maybe, but I think they are committed to the current system and enjoy lording it over great masses of people, regardless of the quality of people's lives and the carrying capacity of the planet. They fiddle while Rome burns.

[struggle4progress]

18. kick for really cheap labor in overpopulated countries

:kick: