January 29, 2004
Volume 6/ Number 4
Dear Colleague:
President Bush spoke forcefully at the 22 January March for Life about the “real progress we’ve made toward building a culture of life in America.” He called particular attention to his “refus(al) to spend taxpayers’ money on international programs that promote abortion overseas.”
Yet new evidence shows that the U.S. foreign aid establishment continues to use taxpayers’ money in Peru for precisely the opposite goal: To promote the legalization of surgical abortion. So charge 10 members of the Peruvian Congress in a written complaint to Andrew Natsios, the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
What gives, Mr. President?
If you would like to help PRI stop USAID’s efforts to promote abortion abroad, please make a tax-deductible donation at our secure website: https://www.pop.org/donate/standard/. All donations (of any size) are welcomed and appreciated.
Steven W. Mosher
President
USAID Promotes Abortion in Peru
Peru is a democratic country, with a constitution that protects human life from conception and strong pro-life laws. But U.S. foreign aid bureaucrats are helping to promote surgical abortion in that country, according to members of the Peruvian Congress.
In a 15 January letter sent to USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios, ten members of the Peruvian Congress express grave concerns about USAID-funded lobbying for the legalization of abortion in their country. At a recent USAID-funded conference, speakers from USAID-funded groups called the illegality of abortion in Peru a “social problem” and promoted surgical abortion as a method of family planning.(1) And that’s not all. There were explicit calls for the legalization of abortion, and copies of a proposed bill on reproductive health (bill 7869) were circulated along with language which includes “abortion” as a reproductive health measure.
The letter to Mr. Natsios states:
“On October 11, 2003, USAID/Peru supported an event titled ‘Regional
Committee: Reproductive Health Situation in Peru.’ The purpose of this event was to discuss and to promote a proposed law (Bill 7869).
“Copies of Bill 7869 were distributed, along with the Exposicion de Motivos of the bill, which states that 1) ‘reproductive health should include measures to promote…abortion…,’ 2) ‘legal barriers to reproductive health include laws prohibiting abortion,’ and 3) ‘reproductive health services such as abortion can only be put into practice when they are carried out in properly equipped facilities that are authorized to perform these procedures.’ Conference speakers lamented abortion’s illegal status, and described illegal abortion as a ‘social problem.’
“The Exposicion de Motivos,” the letter continues, “were represented to be a mere summary of international documents relating to human rights and reproductive health. However, there have been added to this summary explicit references to surgical abortion by the author of this bill, in an attempt to include surgical abortion into a legal definition of ‘reproductive health.’
“Other groups which participated in this event included UNFPA, Manuela Ramos and INPARRES, many of which remain committed to undermining our pro-life Constitution.”
“Again, USAID/Peru supported this event at which abortion was promoted in word and text.”
“We respectfully request that you look into this matter.”
[Signed by 10 members of the Peruvian Congress] (2)
Under U.S. law, USAID is prohibited from providing family planning or reproductive health funding to promote the legalization of abortion in foreign nations. The funding of this conference, and of organizations that are pushing for abortion on demand in Peru, is a blatant violation of U.S. law.
How over the top was it? Very. Conference speakers openly promoted surgical abortion as a method of “reproductive health” services. They openly lobbied for the legalization of abortion. “Pregnancy ends in different ways,” a representative of Pathfinder International said at one point. “They end in live birth. They end in dead birth. They end in spontaneous abortion. They end in induced abortion, voluntary. This last is what we are going to talk about now.”(3)
A speaker from the group Flora Tristan was even more open about the ends of the conference: “And the other matter we must acknowledge [about abortion] is that of illegality. … We must finally recognize that — and fortunately it does happen — the law is changeable. … We citizens should not say, ‘this is what the law says, period,’ but rather, ‘what can we do in order to make these laws be more and more in tune with the needs of the citizens,’ and events like this allow us to do just that.”(4)
Three years into the pro-life Bush Administration, some bureaucrats at USAID are apparently still pursuing an anti-life agenda. It’s past time to clean house.
Mr. President, enforce your pro-life policies.
Endnotes
1. Videotape of USAID Conference, “Regional Committee: Reproductive Health Situation in Peru,” Piura, Peru, October 11, 2004.
2. January 15, 2004 letter to USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios from HECTOR CHAVEZ CHUCHON, GPDI; LUIS SANTA MARIA CALDERON, PAP; HIPOLITO VALDERRAMA CHAVEZ, PAP; DORA NUÃEZ DAVILA, FIM; ELVIRA DE LA PUENTE DE LA HAYA DE BESACCIA, PAP; JUDITH DE LA MATTA FERNANDEZ DE PUENTE, PAP; EMMA VARGAS DE BENAVIDES, UNIDAD NACIONAL; FABIOLA MORALES CASTILLO, UNIDAD NACIONAL; ROSA LEON FLORES, PAP; CARLOS CHAVEZ TRUJILLO, PAP.
3. Videotape of USAID Conference.
4. Ibid.
