House Passes Partial "Mexico City" Policy.

On Thursday, March 26, the State Department authorization bill (HR 1757) passed by a voice vote despite opposition to the bill by both conservatives and liberals. The bill would end U.S. funding of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and prohibit taxpayer funding of international organizations that lobby foreign governments to change their laws on abortion. However, the bill also includes authorization for payment of $819 million to the United Nations, so opposition to the legislation came from not only liberals who oppose restrictions on abortion, but also conservatives who oppose any payment of so-called "back dues" to the international body. Pro-life conservatives have attempted to attach the "Mexico City" provisions onto a number of legislative vehicles, including last year’s funding bill for foreign operations. This year, the president is demanding that Congress provide funding for both the U.N. and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, the president signalled his intent to sacrifice funding for those agencies by threatening to veto any bill, including one which funds the U.N. or IMF, which contains "Mexico City" policy.
[Source: Family Research Council’s LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE, Friday, March 27, 1998]

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Funding Foreign Abortion.

The State Department authorization bill (HR 1757) faces an uphill battle in the House of Representatives. The bill would end U.S. funding of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and prohibit taxpayer funding of international organizations that lobby foreign governments to change their laws on abortion. However, the bill also includes authorization for payment of $926 million to the United Nations, so opposition to the legislation comes from not only liberals who oppose restrictions on abortion, but also conservatives who oppose any payment of so-called "back dues" to the international body. Initially, pro-life members of Congress attempted to include the Mexico City/UNFPA language in a supplemental appropriations bill, which also includes funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, the members inserted the Mexico City/UNFPA abortion restrictions into the State authorization bill which President Clinton would normally want to sign into law. The president has threatened to veto any bill which contains Mexico City policy. [Source: Family Research Council’s LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE, Friday, March 20, 1998]

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Peru's Forced Sterilization Campaign.

On Wednesday, February 25, Peruvian women testified at a congressional hearing, telling horrifying and shocking stories of how they had been forcibly sterilized. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), chairman of the House International Operations and Human Rights Subcommittee, called for the hearing after revelations that the Peruvian Health Ministry was pushing a quota for sterilization. The health agency admitted that last year alone it performed 110,000 sterilizations on mostly poor women. Although coercive, non-consentual [sic] sterilizations and government quotas for sterilizations are explicitly condemned by the 1994 Conference on Population and Development, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) fund and work with Peru's family planning programs. Currently, $6.5 million U.S. taxpayer dollars are going through UNFPA to fund Peru's "reproductive health care" programs. In the wake of Rep. Smith's hearing and certain public outcry, the Peruvian government promised to cease its sterilization program completely. However, FRC will work to see that the tragedy of these Peruvian women is not overlooked as Congress begins its annual foreign operations appropriations process. Taxpayer funding should not pay for questionable population control activities under the guise of "family planning" any longer.
[Source: Family Research Council’s LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE, Friday, February 27, 1998]

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