The "Saving Women's Lives Act of 2002" has been introduced by a group of bipartisan members of the House of Representatives. The Act will provide funding for UN Family Planning (UNFPA) programs. The Administration is unfairly targeting UNFPA by withholding these funds. In the meantime, the lives of women and children are at serious risk until we can provide this crucial assistance.

Congress is determining the budget for Fiscal Year 2003. Your calls to them can have a tremendous effect on their affirmative vote on this item. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. They will be addressing budget issues until the end of March. You may also want to catch them on their home visit during the Easter recess (March 22 - April 8).

Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) along with Reps. Jim Greenwood (R-PA), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Nita Lowey (D-NY), and Doug Ose (R-CA) introduced the "Saving Women's Lives Act of 2002." The bill guarantees that UNFPA will receive the $34 million already appropriated in the FY02 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, and will appropriate an additional $50 million for UNFPA in FY03.

In testimony to the Foreign Relations Committee last year, Secretary Colin Powell said, "We recognize the critical role that voluntary family planning plays in saving the lives and protecting the health of women and children around the world."

Three months ago the State Department gave $600,000 to UNFPA in supplemental funds to help the women of Afghanistan.

In the FY02 Foreign Operations Appropriations Conference Report, $34 million was allocated for UNFPA, which both the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved.

The Bill makes the following Congressional findings which can be used as talking points with members of Congress:

• UNFPA has been, and continues to be, a leader in the renewed commitment of the world community to stabilize global population and improve the status of women.
• Currently, UNFPA supplies ¼ of all grant assistance to population programs worldwide; more than ½ of UNFPA's assistance is devoted to maternal and child health programs, including voluntary family planning.
• UNFPA does NOT fund abortion services; rather it seeks to reduce abortions and related deaths and injuries by improving access to contraceptives and other reproductive health care.
• When the US Congress terminates funding of UNFPA, many women and couples in other countries around the world are penalized. An estimated 870,000 women are deprived of modern contraception resulting in: 500,000 unintended pregnancies, 234,000 births, 200,000 abortions and thousands of maternal and child deaths.
• UNFPA activities are part of the global effort to address environmental problems.
• UNFPA assistance conforms to the internationally-recognized principle that "all couples and individuals have the basic right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and to have the information, education, and means to do so."
• An appropriate way to express the legitimate concerns of the U.S. government about the population policies of the government of China is by placing them on a bilateral agenda along with other human rights issues.
• UNFPA can play a role in reducing the human rights violations in China by expanding voluntarism and contraceptive choice.
• In the spring of 2001, the Secretary of State submitted written testimony to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate expressing support for the invaluable work of UNFPA and for securing funding for the organization.
• The U.S. government, as part of its efforts to improve the dire health conditions of Afghan women, pledged in October 2001 an additional $600,000 to UNFPA to address the reproductive health care needs of Afghan refugees in surrounding nations and of the internally displaced within Afghanistan.
• Congress demonstrated its strong bipartisan support for a voluntary United States contribution to UNFPA of up to $34,000,000 in adopting the fiscal year 2002 foreign operations appropriations bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives on a vote of 357 to 66 and by the Senate by unanimous consent and signed into law by the President on January 10, 2002.
• The Bush Administration "recognizes our country's long history of providing international health care services, including voluntary family planning to couples around the world who want to make free and responsible decisions about the number of spacing their children," and the President is committed to maintaining funding for these programs "because he knows that one of the best ways to prevent abortion is by providing voluntary family planning services."

The Saving Women's Lives Act of 2002 stipulates that of the funds which remain available in the FY02 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, $34M must be made available only for the U.S. voluntary contribution to the United Nations Population Fund and $50 million are authorized in FY2003. None of the funds made available or authorized to be appropriated by this Act may be made available for the country program in China.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) assists developing countries, at their request, to address reproductive health and population issues. UNFPA programs are funded through voluntary contributions by United Nations member states. Recent U.S. voluntary contributions have been: 1995 - $35 million; 1996 - $22.8 million; 1997 - $25 million; 1998 - $20 million; 1999 - $0; 2000 - $21.5 million; 2001 - $21.5 million; 2002 - $34 million.

General Assembly
The issue of access to family planning services was addressed in the environmental justice paper entitled, "Call to Halt Mass Extinction." As one of its points, the Assembly found itself "Reaffirming current Presbyterian Church (USA) policy stating that the church opposes legislative efforts that reduce foreign aid for comprehensive family planning programs, urges President Bush to reverse his order to ban U.S. assistance to international family planning programs agencies that use non-U.S. funds for abortion information or services, because reductions in the availability of family planning services impede the urgently needed stabilization of the human population, while leading to an actual increase in the number of abortions, including those that endanger a woman's life.