New Evidence Confirms UNFPA Involvement in Coercion

This is the latest press release from the Population Research Institute.  It speaks for itself, so no additional comments from me.

Contrary to the claims of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), China’s coercive one-child policy is alive and well in the counties in which their organization operates.

On March 7th-11th of this year, the Population Research Institute (PRI) launched an on-the-ground investigation in 3 UNFPA “model counties.”  These are counties where the UNFPA makes the claim that their efforts have “removed birth targets and quotas and introduced a quality-of-care approach.”

PRI’s investigative team found that the one-child policy was not relaxed in the counties it investigated and, in some ways, the coercive measures undertaken by the government are now worse than ever.

According to PRI’s Colin Mason, who headed up the investigation, “when the actual conditions on the ground are observed, the UNFPA’s claim that it ‘played a catalytic role in introducing a voluntary reproductive health approach in China’ is patently absurd.  The policy is just as coercive in these areas as anywhere else.”

“Crippling fines, intense pressure to be sterilized, the flagrant display of quota information, and even the seizure of ‘illegal children’ by the government are commonplace,” Mason continued.  “The UNFPA insists that its presence has led to the removal of these measures.  It has not.”

“We at PRI ask the President to take a more critical approach in considering funding for the UNFPA,” said Steven Mosher, PRI’s president.  “United States law clearly dictates that tax dollars cannot fund forced abortion or coercive measures overseas.  The President has shown no consideration for these laws, nor has he expressed any concern over the UNFPA’s clear and consistent involvement in human rights abuses.

We stand ready to provide evidence to the Obama Administration regarding UNFPA’s involvement in China’s coercive policy.”

Misc News

The Mona Lisa Project continues, this time showing an Arizona abortion clinic failing to report sex between a 15-year-old and 27-year-old (a felony in AZ).   The employee also tells the 15-year-old that abortion “doesn’t hurt”- yeah, right.  Watch the video.

It’s official!  The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion has been signed into law.

USA Today/Gallup Poll reports that Obama’s reversal of the Mexico City policy is the least popular decision of his early presidency, with a mere 35% approval rating.  His most popular was a tie: naming envoys to the Middle East and restricting lobbyist activity each came in at 76%.  Depressingly for me, the nation is split on Obama’s decision to close Guantanamo Bay prison, with 44% approving and 50% disapproving.

Bush Showed Restraint with Iran

The New York Times reports that Bush rejected an Israeli proposal to attach Iran last year, going with a covert program instead.

According to the Times, Bush decided against an overt attack based on input from top administration officials such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who believed that doing so would likely prove ineffective and could ignite a broader Middle East war.

Sounds like he possibly learned something from Iraq?