“We commend President Donald Trump for making it very clear the United States will not support a United Nations agency that promotes the killing of innocent babies.” -Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel.
News Staff : Apr 6, 2017 : CBN News
[CBN News] It’s no secret that China’s strict two-child policy has ended countless unborn babies’ lives through forced abortions. (Free photo via Pixabay)
Now, President Donald Trump is taking a stand against China’s forced abortions by cutting funds to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
“This determination was made based on the fact that China’s family planning policies still involve the use of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization, and UNFPA partners on family planning activities with the Chinese government agency responsible for these coercive policies,” the State Department said.
The cuts amount to at least $32.5 million. Instead, funds will be directed to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which provides medical care to families across the world.
Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, praised the move, calling the United States’ past funding of forced abortions a “disgrace.”
“The outrage of the Obama administration’s ‘see no evil’ policy that financed forced abortions and coerced sterilizations in China and other dictatorships is finally over,” said Fr. Pavone. “The United Nations Population Fund is a broker of oppression. That our country funded this organization in violation of federal law is a disgrace.”
The State Department determined that the UNFPA was illegal and in violation of the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, which was originally created by the Reagan Administration.
The amendment prohibits giving U.S. “population assistance” funds to “any organization or program which, as determined by the President of the United States, supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.”
Even though the Kemp-Kasten Amendment has been renewed each year by Congress, neither President Clinton nor President Obama enforced the law and handed over $67.88 million to UNFPA in the 2016 fiscal year.
Mat Staver, founder and president of Liberty Counsel, also applauds the decision to stop funding forced abortions.
“We commend President Donald Trump for making it very clear the United States will not support a United Nations agency that promotes the killing of innocent babies,” Staver said. “Obama tragically advanced a pro-abortion agenda and poured millions of dollars into UNFPA to support the death of many unborn children. This latest action by the Trump Administration is a positive step as we strive to eliminate the funding of human genocide in America and internationally.”