In July the United States drew fire for its decision to withdraw $34 million in funds from the United Nations Population Fund. The $34 million would have been spent on family planning efforts in China, but the United States maintains that the money would have ended up going to Chinese agencies that coerce women into having abortions and sterilization procedures.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that,
After careful consideration . . . we came to the conclusion that the UN Population Fund monies go to Chinese agencies that carry out coercive programs. Secretary of State Colin Powell decided that . . . US funds for family planning and reproductive health will be spent through the United States Agency for International Development programs and not through UNFPA.
Both China and the United Nations criticized the move.
The UNFPA argued that its activities in China do not involve aiding coerced abortions or sterilizations. UNFPA director of information Stirling Scruggs told The BBC, “We are very sad, and we are shocked because we have never been involved in coercion in China or anywhere else in the world.”
That is a very odd sort of bifurcation. The UNFPA’s view seems to be that it is okay to work with governmental organizations that engage in coercive practices as long as the UNFPA’s work is focused on noncoercive methods. That seems to be an extreme case of splitting hairs. As the State Department noted,
UNFPA’s support of, and involvement in, China’s population planning activities allows the Chinese Government to implement more effectively its programme of coerced abortion.
The UNFPA’s idea that if it takes care of the noncoercive programs and leaves China to deal with the coercive aspects that it has no moral culpability in the matter is absurd.
Sources:
China attacks US baby fund cuts. The BBC, July 23, 2002.
US to axe family planning funds. The BBC, July 22, 2002.