Committees Pass Bills Boosting Global Family Planning Funding; Senate Strikes 'Global Gag' Rule

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Abortion
Article Date: 21 Jul 2008 - 5:00 PST

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A House subcommittee and the full Senate Appropriations Committee this week approved fiscal year 2009 foreign assistance bills that "irked" some conservatives because they include more money for family planning programs and loosen restrictions on how the money can be spent, CQ Today reports.

The House measure, which passed the House-State Foreign Operations Subcommittee, would provide $600 million for foreign family planning programs, a 30% increase from FY 2008, including $60 million for the United Nations Population Fund. The Senate measure, which passed the full Appropriations Committee by a 28-1 vote, would provide $520 million for family planning programs, including $45 million for UNFPA.

Both bills would waive some restrictions on funding for UNFPA. According to CQ Today, President Bush since 2002 has applied a longstanding law (PL 99-88) that has allowed the administration to bar funding from going to groups it determines have supported coerced abortion or forced sterilization. The Bush administration has withheld $235 million in funding appropriated to UNFPA, citing the provision. Some UNFPA critics claim that the agency's work helps fund abortions in countries such as China. The spending bills bar U.S. funds to UNFPA from being spent in China but would allow U.S. funds to support UNFPA activities related to obstetric care, preventing unintended pregnancies, and opposing female genital cutting -- also known as female genital mutilation and female circumcision.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), who cast the only vote against the Senate measure, said it would "allow funds to be used in countries that have, through UNFPA, forced abortions, forced sterilizations." Brownback cited Vietnam and North Korea as countries where UNFPA works (Graham-Silverman, CQ Today, 7/17). The spending bill contains "a lot of good things," but "[t]his is a piece I cannot stand by," Brownback said (Kivlan, CongressDaily, 7/18).

The Senate measure also would overturn the so-called "Mexico City" policy, also known as the "global gag" rule, while the House measure does not address the issue (CQ Today, 7/17). The policy bars U.S. funding to foreign nongovernmental organizations that, with non-U.S. funds, provide or pay for abortion services or counseling, or engage in advocacy on abortion-related issues (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 12/14/07).

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