LWV logoLeague of Women Voters of the Upper Valley

Hanover, NH, Norwich, VT and neighboring towns

updated 2/12/05     Home Page >> talks at recent League forums

Saving Women’s Lives: The Right Thing to Do

Attitudes of Vermont and New Hampshire Congressional Delegations

The members of the Vermont delegation to Congress are staunch supporters of UNFPA and its work. Senator Patrick Leahy is always a steadfast supporter of appropriations to the Fund. On July 22, 2002, when he chaired the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he commented upon the Administration’s announcement that it would not release the $34 million allocated for UNFPA (and I quote):

"Secretary of State Powell called me this afternoon to inform me of the decision on UNFPA. The Secretary has been a strong supporter of UNFPA, and I do not hold him responsible for what is clearly a blatantly political decision by the White House.

"This decision is an embarrassment and a travesty. It flies in the face of the facts, of the law and of the intent of Congress. In calculated pursuit of the politics of abortion, the White House has chosen a course that will mean more abortions. The House and Senate agreed to $34 million. The President himself asked for $25 million. The State Department's lawyers last February concluded that UNFPA was not in violation of Kemp-Kasten, and nothing has changed since then.

Senator Leahy continued: "The allegations against UNFPA by anti-family planning groups are also nothing new. But the White House, feeling the political heat from its right wing, dispatched a team of experts to China. After conducting an independent investigation, they recommended continued U.S. support to UNFPA.

Senator Leahy concluded: "It is ludicrous that because there is coercion in China—coercion we all know about and deplore—the Administration is barring all U.S. support for use anywhere by the world's largest family planning organization, whose mission in China is to support voluntary family planning. UNFPA's mission is to promote alternatives to coercion and abortion and to prevent the spread of AIDS, and that is exactly what UNFPA should be doing there. We do not send foreign aid to countries that are doing everything right—we send it to try to make things better. That is also UNFPA's mission.

"Under existing law, no U.S. funds can be used in China. UNFPA used our funds in scores of other countries that do not receive other U.S. family planning aid, which this decision now also eliminates." (end quote)

Senator Jim Jeffords (Ind. Vt) and Congressman Bernie Sanders (Ind.Vt.) also are loyal supporters of UNFPA, but as Independents their names are not heard so often.

I know little about the New Hampshire delegation, but the U.S. Committee office in Washington tells me that Senators Judd Gregg and John Sununu, Republicans, have not had to vote on UNFPA funding specifically. One could predict from their public pronouncements that they are "pro-life" and from other votes they have taken they would be most likely to oppose funding of UNFPA. Maybe some of you know them well?

Congressmen Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley both opposed the Crowley Amendment when it was voted down on the House floor this summer. They do not have good records from our point of view with regard to support for international family planning. Congressmen must run for re-election every two years.

Broadening Views of Population Assistance

In 1969, when development professionals talked about population, they talked primarily about numbers and demographics. These were the days of books like Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb, published in 1968. Well into the 1980s, developing countries concerned about the far-reaching impact of rapid population growth asked UNFPA for family planning assistance and for help in creating workable population-related policies. But in 1994, the face of population and development changed dramatically at the ICPD in Cairo, largely organized by UNFPA. At that conference, leaders from 179 countries agreed that the empowerment of women—including a woman’s power to control her own fertility—must be addressed before true social and economic progress could take hold in a nation. The League of Women Voters was, of course, represented at the Cairo Conference.

Reproductive Rights

As a United Nations organization, UNFPA plays a vital role in working with governments to encourage policies and cultural climates that enhance the lives of all citizens. Supporting national programs and the country’s own non-governmental organizations, UNFPA now provides a range of social services far beyond its traditional role in voluntary family planning. Let me give you some examples:
Home www.uppervalleyleague.org     <<  Back     Next  >>