International development

Bush bans aid to countries that allow medical abortion

“The American position on population is a catastrophe,” states Professor Victor Piché of the Department of Demography at the Université de Montréal and spokesperson for Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD).

Since the American administration banned humanitarian assistance to countries that practice therapeutic abortion, the Europeans have had to increase their contributions to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). But the international aid community has not really come to terms with the U.S. position. “Clandestine abortion is a major health problem in certain developing countries,” states Professor Piché, an Africa specialist who travels to the continent about a dozen times a year. “That’s why development workers inform women of safe places where they can receive care without endangering their lives. But this should not be equated with promoting abortion, a charge made by the Bush administration against the UNFPA.

An independent commission, made up of Republicans and Democrats, recently visited China, where rumours of this supposed ‘promotion of abortion’ were circulating. Their report, released in 2004, concluded that the People’s Republic did not promote this practice. “Despite this, and to our great dismay, the Bush administration does not seem to want to back down from its position,” says Professor Piché.

The American position on contraception in developing countries is contested around the world. “The United States recognizes only one form of contraception: abstinence. As a result, countries that promote condoms as a form of contraception are also banned from American humanitarian programs. This is absolutely absurd in light of the devastation of AIDS, particularly in Africa,” states the demographer.

The International Conference on Population and Development condemns these budgetary constraints: by 2005, donor countries will contribute $6.1 billion, which is only one-third of the funds required. “In the face of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, there are additional needs, particularly for a reliable and sufficient supply of reproductive health commodities, including male and female condoms,” according to its last report, State of the World Population 2004.

International aid budgets are already cut to the bone. Development workers, he says, are understandably shocked by the decision of the most powerful and wealthiest nation in the world to cut its funding for ideological reasons. In his role with the ACPD, Professor Piché helps to raise awareness and lobby policymakers. According to the organization’s website, “The ACPD’s overall goal is to advance action by the Canadian government to meet the commitments that it made in the 1994 Cairo Programme of Action and, in particular, to meet the financial targets set at Cairo.” The organization mobilizes public support for international population and development issues. The non-partisan organization focuses on the relationships between population growth and structure, the environment, over-consumption, poverty, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equity and equality, human rights, migration, economic and other development issues.