PHA-Exchange> U.S. May Abandon Support of U.N. Population Accord

[Aviva]

US MAY ABONDON SUPPORT OF U.N. POPULATION ACCORD

By JAMES DAO

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 - The Bush administration, embroiling itself in a new
fight at the United Nations, has threatened to withdraw its support for a
landmark family planning agreement that the United States helped write eight
years ago.

The reason for the threat is contained in two terms that the administration
contends can be construed as promoting abortion. The terms - reproductive
health services and reproductive rights - figure in the final declaration of
the United Nations population conference in 1994 in Cairo, which embraced a
new concept of population policy based on improving the legal rights and
economic status of women. The declaration has since been endorsed by 179
nations.But during a population and development conference in Bangkok this
week, the American delegation announced that Washington would not reaffirm
its support for the Cairo "program of action" unless the disputed words were
changed or  removed, United States and United Nations officials said.

The threat startled members of other delegations attending the Asian and
Pacific Population Conference and drew immediate criticism from Chinese,
Indian and Indonesian officials, who argued that the American position would
undermine a global consensus on population policy, according to United
Nations officials. The threat has also elicited a sharp response from some
Europeans. "I think it is disappointing and incredible," said Agnes van
Ardenne, the Dutch minister for development cooperation. "Poverty reduction
will not be successful without reproductive health and without women being
able to make their own choices."

Congressional Democrats and United Nations officials underscored these
concerns today, saying that a decision by the administration to withdraw
support for the Cairo program would undermine the efforts of family planning
officials in countries that have looked to the United States to take the
lead in checking population growth.

"The impact of these public statements is devastating and could undermine 10
years of work," Representative Carolyn Maloney, Democrat of New York, said
in a draft letter to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell that she began
circulating on Capitol Hill today. "It is likely that repressive countries
will follow the U.S. in its decision and the progress that has been made
will cease."

The State Department declined to comment on the dispute today. But
administration officials acknowledged that the United States might not
reaffirm its support for the Cairo program unless the disputed phrases were
withdrawn or modified.

The 1994 conference was widely considered a watershed event because it moved
away from traditional ideas of family planning and embraced the idea that
giving women more control over their lives would provide a check against
explosive population growth.

The program of action called for stabilizing the world's population at no
more than 9.8 billion by 2050 and it urged countries to make health care
widely accessible, reduce maternal mortality, provide universal access to
primary education and stem the spread of H.I.V. and AIDS. The program also
suggested that where abortion is legal, it should be made safe.

The program's acknowledgment that legal abortion could be part of health
care has drawn objections from the Vatican and several Muslim and Latin
American countries. But over the years, the United States has consistently
reaffirmed the Cairo principles.

One of the Vatican's chief negotiators in Cairo, John Klink, was an adviser
to the United States delegation in Bangkok, United Nations officials said.

Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life
Committee, praised the Bush administration's stand. "We certainly approve of
any effort by the administration to make it clear that abortion is not an
acceptable method of family planning," Mr.Johnson said. "There is a sort of
code used in some of these U.N. documents, and groups that advocate expanded
access to abortion do construe these phrases to include abortion."

The dispute over the Cairo program is only the most recent example of
administration efforts to withdraw American support from United Nations
programs that it contends promote abortion.

In July, the administration decided to withhold $34 million in previously
approved aid to the United Nations Population Fund, contending that the
agency helps Chinese government agencies that force women to have abortions.

In May, during the United Nations General Assembly's special session on
children, the Bush administration, the Vatican and some Muslim countries
unsuccessfully pushed for a policy to prevent teenagers from getting
abortions. The group also sought to make abstinence the centerpiece of sex
education for unmarried teenagers.

Timothy E. Wirth, the under secretary of state for global affairs in 1994,
said he expected the Bush administration to reaffirm the Cairo program
eventually. If it does not, he said, the United States might alienate
important allies just as it is trying to build international support for its
Iraq policies.

"The reaction would be very negative," Mr. Wirth added, "at a time when the
administration is trying to put together international coalitions on various
efforts."

SOURCE:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/02/international/asia/02ABOR.html?pagewan
November 2, 2002