UPCOMING EVENTS LINKS Pro-Life PA by Sue Cirba ARTICLES BY SUSAN CIRBA Partial Birth Abortion Ban Case to be Reviewed by Supreme Court 3-2006 |
Susan Cirba-Life Issues |
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Austin Ruse investigates the UNFPA's response to the Kosovo Crisis. People who needed food were sent reproductive health kits and a manual vacuum aspirator used for performing abortions in the field. The Human Life Review Homepage UNFPA 's COERCIVE POPULATION CONTROL POLICIES Since 1998, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has operated family planning programs in 32 county-level municipalities in China. UNFPA has been criticized for its complicity in China's one-child policy which forced many Chinese women to have abortions, even in late pregnancy. The UNFPA claims reproductive health programs, "women are free to voluntarily select the timing and spacing of their pregnancies; and there are no quotas or forced abortions." UNFPA claims it does not promote abortion. Steve Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute finds the UNFPA's claims hard to believe, "I have always held the opinion that given the character of China's family planning program and its human rights situation in general, it is highly unlikely that UNFPA's claims about its current program are accurate." In September 2001 a team of Population Research Institute investigators traveled to China to interview women and officials in counties where the UNFPA is active. Interviews were recorded in notebooks, on audio tape, and on videotape The results clearly indicate that the UNFPA's claims are false. On October 17, Congressional Hearings were held before the House International Relations Committee. PRI investigators testified about China's harsh population control laws and the effects of these laws on women and their families. UNFPA 's COERCIVE POPULATION CONTROL POLICIES Since 1998, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has operated family planning programs in 32 county-level municipalities in China. UNFPA has been criticized for its complicity in China's one-child policy which forced many Chinese women to have abortions, even in late pregnancy. The UNFPA claims reproductive health programs, "women are free to voluntarily select the timing and spacing of their pregnancies; and there are no quotas or forced abortions." UNFPA claims it does not promote abortion. Steve Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute finds the UNFPA's claims hard to believe, "I have always held the opinion that given the character of China's family planning program and its human rights situation in general, it is highly unlikely that UNFPA's claims about its current program are accurate." In September 2001 a team of Population Research Institute investigators traveled to China to interview women and officials in counties where the UNFPA is active. Interviews were recorded in notebooks, on audio tape, and on videotape The results clearly indicate that the UNFPA's claims are false. On October 17, Congressional Hearings were held before the House International Relations Committee. PRI investigators testified about China's harsh population control laws and the effects of these laws on women and their families. According to the testimony of Harry Wu, "The first planned birth cadre with whom we spoke was Zhou Guilan, a 52-year old female who spent over twenty years, from 1974 through 1996, in the planned birth office of Xiqing District. In 1983 her superiors sent a Baxhou City physician to them who had already performed sterilization surgeries on thousands of women of child-bearing age who already had two children. The surgeries were said to be "voluntary" when in actuality, no woman could refuse the surgery. The physician performed the surgeries quickly, spending no more than ten minutes on each sterilized woman. A total of 89 targeted women underwent sterilization." China's family planning policies have become more restrictive. "China allows families to have only one child. Violators must submit to forced abortion and sterilization. " "Zhou told us that in each of the four villages, Xiaohanzhuang, Xiaonianzhuang, Xiaojinzhuang, and Xilanrhai, homes that housed families with more than one child had been razed to the ground by bulldozers. Village Planned Birth officials brought all child-bearing-age women to the homes to bear witness to the destruction." "Women who manage to hide their pregnancies face stiff fines upon the birth of a second child. These fines continue for 18 years." Asked if illegally born children receive "residence quotas", documents that prove their legitimacy, Tian replied, "Of course not." Residence quotas are important for without one the child will not receive an education. "One woman heroically escaped forced abortion by hiding in a nearby village. As a result, nine members of her family were imprisoned." Despite UNFPA's participation in China's abusive population control programs, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has recently increased funding for the UNFPA from $25 million to $39 million.
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