(6)     Sat 10 Jun 95 18:14
By: Robin Murray-o'hair
To: All
Re: House Defeat of Population Control
St:
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@EID:f946 1eca91c0
@MSGID: 1:382/1006.0 882A09D4
@TID: WILDMAIL!/WC v4.11  94-0279
HOUSE DEFEAT OF POPULATION CONTROL BILL "A VERY  ENCOURAGING
FIRST STEP'' FOR ANTI-CHOICE

by Conrad F. Goeringer

JUNE 9 The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to slash
a $25 million contribution to the U.N. Population Fund. The move
prompted Planned Parenthood to call the move "a thinly-veiled
attempt to use the issue of abortion to dismantle international
family planning funding." The action was an amendment to a
foreign affairs bill, pushed by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ). It also
bans funding for non-government organizations that perform
abortions in foreign countries, and passed by a 240-181 vote,
mostly along party lines.

     The National Right to Life Committee described the ban
as a "very encouraging first step" in reversing the policies of
the Clinton Administration. Spokesman Douglas Johnson said that
the margin in the House "was about what we expected," noting that
similar legislation had been defeated in Congress when the
Democrats had control.

     The ban re-affirms polices which existed under
former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Reagan
enunciated the so-called Mexico City policy in 1984 which lifted
support for abortion in U.S. foreign policy. One argument
mustered by ban-advocates was the coercive population control
policies in China, which is host for a world population summit in
September.

                      The First Salvo?

     Wednesday's action may also be the first step in having
the GOP -dominated Congress "pay off" the religious right by
instituting a conservative social agenda. Last month's "Contract
With the American Family," a ten-point agenda of the Christian
Coalition, specifically mentioned the United Nations Population
Fund which received about $50 million from the U.S. last year.
The "Contract" noted that "In fiscal year 1993, the United States
contributed at least $580 million toward world family planning
programs" and that "Any of this money that is contributed to
organizations that encourage or perform abortions should be
eliminated."

     The House ban also raises questions about domestic
funding for abortion. Critics see an end to funding as a "first
step" in banning abortion altogether. They also insist that bans
discriminate against poorer women in both the U.S. and abroad,
since the rich can afford abortion services out of their own
pockets.

     A number of organizations which are pro-choice still
denounce the draconian "one child" policy in China as coercive
and anti-human rights. They maintain that the China issue is a
bogus issue, however, since the real target is voluntary
abortion, not an authoritarian government policy. The 59-vote
margin suggests that evangelical conservative forces may indeed
have sufficient votes to enact other portions of their social
platform. The House action also means that Congress is now paying
more attention to the religious social agenda, after spending the
first 100 days of the new session dealing with economic
legislation outlined in the GOP "Contract With America."
Religious leaders have spent the past two weeks putting new
pressure on beholden GOP officials in both the House and Senate,
insisting that they "pay up" for the massive financial and
volunteer support of the Christian right-wing in last November's
Congressional election. Many GOP victories have been attributed
to the hard work of groups such as the Christian Coalition.

                           --30--

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