Wednesday, August 24, 2005
UN Accused of Aiding China's Mandatory Abortion Program
From TheFactIs.org via LifeSite
[T]o sense what separates the administration from the institution, all you need do is read a speech delivered this summer by a relatively unknown US diplomat to a relatively unknown UN meeting, called the Executive Board of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The Executive Board, a collection of interested donor nations, was meeting to assess the Population Fund's sixth multi-year plan to provide reproductive services to the women of China, a land where all such services fall under the provisions of the 2001 National Population and Family Planning Law, the legal descendant of the 1979 One Child Policy.
Kelly Ryan, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, knew that she was delivering a decidedly un-UN speech, and felt the need to reassure her audience that the US did not hate the UN, or China, or family planning. She even apologized for the length of her speech.
Then she proceeded to shame China, UNFPA, and UNFPA's donors: "We believe it would be best to let the facts speak for themselves regarding the situation in China. My delegation has reviewed the provincial regulations implementing the birth limitation program in counties where UNFPA is operating." And then she began to read them, one-by-one.
In Anhui Province, "Couples who become pregnant in contravention of the conditions of this regulation must terminate the pregnancy in a timely manner." In Hunan Province, "Pregnancies that do not comply with the legal requirements for childbirth shall be terminated in a timely manner. For pregnancies that are not so terminated, the township People's Government or neighborhood committee shall order terminations within a limited period."
After forced abortion, Ryan moved on to the eugenic aspects of the regulations. In Fujian Province, "Couples who have conditions which would cause serious genetic illnesses in their offspring may not have children. Either the husband or wife must submit to birth control surgery or adopt a method of birth control with long-term effectiveness. In cases where the wife is already pregnant, the couple must terminate the pregnancy in a timely manner." In Hunan Province, "For a pregnant woman whose pre-natal examination shows the fetus to be severely deformed, the pregnancy shall be terminated in a timely manner."
The violation of the marital bond is complete. In Anhui Province, "couples of childbearing age must consciously implement contraceptive measures and accept the guidance of family planning technical service personnel." In almost all of the provinces, couples must receive permission from such personnel before they can give birth – "authorized births" – and are fined many years of family income if they somehow evade the technical service personnel and manage an "unauthorized birth."
Then Ryan asked a number of questions. To the UNFPA officials, Ryan asked, "Why doesn't UNFPA insist that it will not work in a county where couples are not free to determine the timing of childbirth?" "And finally, it is our understanding that abortions are mandatory in most of China for pregnant unwed mothers; how does the UNFPA adolescent reproductive health program deal with this issue?"
And, then, to the nations that fund UNFPA: "We believe that it is entirely appropriate to discuss China's coercive birth limitation program at a UNFPA Board meeting. This is not 'politicizing' the Board. This Board sets policies for UNFPA. This Board directs how UNFPA spends its money . . . If this Board does not stand up for human rights in UNFPA's reproductive health programming, who will?"
But it is not clear that shame works at the United Nations. At this moment, all of the nations on the Board are proudly participating in the creation of a legally binding international document to protect the rights of people with disabilities, even as they wink at the fact that, for the largest population on earth, disabled adults are routinely sterilized, and disabled unborn children are routinely aborted, as a matter of law.
It would appear these kinds of dicussions that concern the fate of millions go on out of the public view on a routine basis. Shame on the UN for collaborating in this insane policy.
[T]o sense what separates the administration from the institution, all you need do is read a speech delivered this summer by a relatively unknown US diplomat to a relatively unknown UN meeting, called the Executive Board of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The Executive Board, a collection of interested donor nations, was meeting to assess the Population Fund's sixth multi-year plan to provide reproductive services to the women of China, a land where all such services fall under the provisions of the 2001 National Population and Family Planning Law, the legal descendant of the 1979 One Child Policy.
Kelly Ryan, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, knew that she was delivering a decidedly un-UN speech, and felt the need to reassure her audience that the US did not hate the UN, or China, or family planning. She even apologized for the length of her speech.
Then she proceeded to shame China, UNFPA, and UNFPA's donors: "We believe it would be best to let the facts speak for themselves regarding the situation in China. My delegation has reviewed the provincial regulations implementing the birth limitation program in counties where UNFPA is operating." And then she began to read them, one-by-one.
In Anhui Province, "Couples who become pregnant in contravention of the conditions of this regulation must terminate the pregnancy in a timely manner." In Hunan Province, "Pregnancies that do not comply with the legal requirements for childbirth shall be terminated in a timely manner. For pregnancies that are not so terminated, the township People's Government or neighborhood committee shall order terminations within a limited period."
After forced abortion, Ryan moved on to the eugenic aspects of the regulations. In Fujian Province, "Couples who have conditions which would cause serious genetic illnesses in their offspring may not have children. Either the husband or wife must submit to birth control surgery or adopt a method of birth control with long-term effectiveness. In cases where the wife is already pregnant, the couple must terminate the pregnancy in a timely manner." In Hunan Province, "For a pregnant woman whose pre-natal examination shows the fetus to be severely deformed, the pregnancy shall be terminated in a timely manner."
The violation of the marital bond is complete. In Anhui Province, "couples of childbearing age must consciously implement contraceptive measures and accept the guidance of family planning technical service personnel." In almost all of the provinces, couples must receive permission from such personnel before they can give birth – "authorized births" – and are fined many years of family income if they somehow evade the technical service personnel and manage an "unauthorized birth."
Then Ryan asked a number of questions. To the UNFPA officials, Ryan asked, "Why doesn't UNFPA insist that it will not work in a county where couples are not free to determine the timing of childbirth?" "And finally, it is our understanding that abortions are mandatory in most of China for pregnant unwed mothers; how does the UNFPA adolescent reproductive health program deal with this issue?"
And, then, to the nations that fund UNFPA: "We believe that it is entirely appropriate to discuss China's coercive birth limitation program at a UNFPA Board meeting. This is not 'politicizing' the Board. This Board sets policies for UNFPA. This Board directs how UNFPA spends its money . . . If this Board does not stand up for human rights in UNFPA's reproductive health programming, who will?"
But it is not clear that shame works at the United Nations. At this moment, all of the nations on the Board are proudly participating in the creation of a legally binding international document to protect the rights of people with disabilities, even as they wink at the fact that, for the largest population on earth, disabled adults are routinely sterilized, and disabled unborn children are routinely aborted, as a matter of law.
It would appear these kinds of dicussions that concern the fate of millions go on out of the public view on a routine basis. Shame on the UN for collaborating in this insane policy.
papijoe 6:31 AM
|