fearlessly proclaiming the truth & the other truth! voice of the teknoshamanic institute
Casualties of Compassionate Christian Conservatism
Published on July 20, 2004 By kingbee In Current Events

an estimated 510,000 women lose their lives giving birth each year: roughly 251,000  in sub-saharan africa, 253,000 in asia,  22,000 in the caribbean and about 2,500 in all the first world countries.  maternal mortality rates rise in reverse proportion to the number of births attended by a midwife or caregiver.  in the us, europe and latin america, nearly all deliveries are assisted by a caregiver. in sub-saharan africa and asia, the percentage drops to about 58%.  

needless deaths are deplorable. needless deaths of young mothers devastate their surviving children, families and communities. worldwide, the communities least able to sustain the loss of any healthy young adults--especially parents--are those in aids-ravaged sub-saharan africa and asia. 

in at least 10% of maternal mortality cases, the newborn infant dies as well..

while there are not now nearly enough qualified birth assistors to prevent all these needless deaths, there is a simple, effective, inexpensive means of  significantly reducing them.  called a "safe motherhood kit", its intended to provide clean birthings. each kit consists of a sterile plastic sheet to provide a clean delivery area, a razor, soap, gauze,  a surgical blade to cut the umbilical cord, tape with which to tie off the umbilical cord and step-by-step illustrated instructions.

kits have been distributed to 140 countries through the united nations fund for population activities (unfpa).  there's no question as to their efficacy when it comes protecting the life of both baby and mother.  

the united states congress has allocated 34 million dollars to the unfpa each year for the past three years.  on july 16, 2004, secretary of state powell announced the administration was withholding these funds for the third year in a row.  the state department, powell said by way of explanation, is convinced the unfpa helps china manage its coercive 'one child' program which involves forced abortions. 

according to representative carolyn maloney  d-ny,  state department investigators concluded two years ago there was no evidence linking the fund to any coercive abortion programs in china.

a unfpa press release issued on july 16, 2004 also refutes powell's assertion.  the following is excerpted from that release. 

“The United States’ contribution could have saved thousands of lives,” said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA’s Executive Director.

"UNFPA has not, does not and will not ever condone or support coercive activities of any kind, anywhere," Ms. Obaid said.

An assessment team sent to China in 2002 by the U.S. State Department found no evidence that the Fund supported or participated in the management of a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization—on the contrary, it reported that UNFPA had registered its strong opposition to such practices. That team recommended that funds allocated by Congress be released to UNFPA. Three other independent teams, from the United Nations, the British Parliament and a multi-faith panel of religious leaders, reached the same conclusion.

The United States is the only country to deny funding to UNFPA for non-budgetary reasons."

so what's really going on?  

here's a clue:

in iraq and afghanistan, islamist theocrats demand implementation of their interpretation of the q'uran.  in the us, religious rightist  theocrats demand implementation of their interpretation of christianity. one such american ayatollah wannabe--rep chris h. smith r-nj--applauded the administration's decision, proclaiming, "President Bush has taken the side of the oppressed and refused to cooperate with the oppressor." 

that should come as no surprise since smith--as point man for the anti-abortion forces of the religious right--led the attack on unfpa funding. 

actions speak much louder and more effectively than words or slogans such as 'pro-life'.  based on last week's decision, one can only conclude smith, his colleagues and the president's commitment to life is being sublimated to their  belief in miracles--because barring a miracle, another 500,000+ women are going to die thanks to this decision.

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Comments (Page 2)
2 Pages1 2 
on Jul 27, 2004
It's a little more sophisticated than that lifehappens. Generally this refers to the distribution of condoms, birthing kits, the training of midwives and nurses and the delivery of lectures on sexual health. There may be some organisations that also provide abortions, but that is not the core of their program nor is it common. Most governments would not tolerate foreign-run abortion clinics, and in any event they are quite expensive to run, so would generally be avoided in order to spend more money on prevention.
on Jul 27, 2004

Sounds like a roundabout way of saying they will provide abortions.

the issue being cited for withholding the allocation is unfpa's alleged involvement in the management of china's family planning program.  unfpa has consistently denied the charge as does chen shengli from china's state family planning commission

"I can guarantee there's absolutely no such thing happening. How can I guarantee this? Because we carefully inspect the 32 counties [which receive UN funding] and we have requirements for them."

on Jul 27, 2004
there is always the possibility their efforts will succeed in convincing china to reconsider its policy.


lets step out of the liberal box for a minute and consider the fact that China is NOT a democratic republic...things just don't run that way here..what China wants is what China will do..China does not need anyone's approval or to appease anyone with its policies...(see the Taiwan issue)...just trying to get you all to be realistic with your opinions
on Jul 27, 2004
The motives for abortion run deeper than just moral issues here. Remember there is a one child policy and since the joining of the WTO the gap between the rich and the poor has well become a gorge. The point being, its not just a moral issue here and as a result, well tried and tested theories that have worked in the western world will not, WILL NOT work here. A very frustrating issue that I cannot stress enough for you people who live in the west and try to do good for developing countries...
on Jul 28, 2004

what China wants is what China will do


see reply # 4 above.  exactly what i said


lets step out of the liberal box for a minute


im in no box whatsoever.   the issue here isnt abortion; it's one more example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions as a consequence of mixing religious ideology with political ambition.

on Jul 28, 2004

A very frustrating issue that I cannot stress enough for you people who live in the west and try to do good for developing countries...


since the issue here isnt abortion but withholding funding for a un agency that distributes safe delivery kits, im not sure what your point is.  

on Jul 28, 2004
comment not directed at you, scroll up and
there is always the possibility their efforts will succeed in convincing china to reconsider its policy.


its directed to whoever made the above quoted comment, my frustration lies in the fact that people often make conclusions on what they feel strongly about without having made enough research on what they are talking about, just because it sounds good doesn't mean it works, don't assume that if enough people make an issue or make some noise you can change the world...

Once again point not directed at you, I am in agreement with you
on Jul 28, 2004

i posted the statement--i was paraphrasing the unfpa's press release in which they said they were attempting to convince china to focus on birth control rather than abortions and speculating it was possible that could succeed.  hell, anythings possible.

on Aug 04, 2004
It's strange, isn't it, that so many shrug off the statistics of a half a million women dying by giving birth. It's like the old edict of the Catholic Church: save the child at all costs--if the mother dies in the process,...well, at least she made the supreme sacrifice. 
on Aug 04, 2004
I don't think it's an issue of just not wanting to support abortion. It's an issue of not wanting to support forced abortion. There's a disagreement as to whether this UN program assists that, or simply doesn't take a hard enough stand against it (My guess would be the latter is the real issue.) It won't be the first time the UN claimed to have a humanitarian program free of flaws when the ground truth is that oppresive regimes are duping them (i.e. food for oil program in Iraq). I'm not sure what the ground truth is in China and with this program. But to say that it is the administration refusing to support abortion on religious grounds is misconstruing the issue. The US opposes China's one child policy, and the coercive means used to enforce it. This is one US policy I agree with, having two baby girl cousins who were adopted from China as abandoned children.
on Aug 04, 2004

save the child at all costs--if the mother dies in the process,...well, at least she made the supreme sacrifice


off all the things the peoples of the third world can least afford to sacrifice, healthy mothers has to top the list.

on Aug 04, 2004

it's an issue of just not wanting to support abortion


the matter has been investigated by the us and british governments. the chinese seem to want to distance themselves from the program (possibly because they dont want their policies monitored?).  how does it serve the greater good (since the chinese are going to do what they want in any event) to use that as an excuse to deprive women of such minimal health protection?  can you imagine jesus doing that?  

on Aug 04, 2004

But to say that it is the administration refusing to support abortion on religious grounds


no im saying theyre using the forced abortion issue as a smokescreen the same way that aids funding is being withheld to discourage treatment with generic drugs.

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