PPGP’s goal is to “turn [PPFA’s] broad base of support into an active and vocal constituency that will fight for worldwide access to family planning.” It does this by establishing “partnerships between Planned Parenthood affiliates in the United States and family planning programs oversees.”
In its Winter 2000 newsletter, PPFA introduced this new initiative as the next step in the implementation of the goals accomplished at the UN summits of Cairo ‘94 and Beijing ‘95 through its international service arm, Family Planning International Assistance (FPIA).
FPIA, acting since 1971, was created to “increase access to reproductive health services and strengthen support for reproductive rights in strategically selected countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.” It supports those organizations that promote “sexuality education and contraceptive services among adolescents” and “safe abortion services.” It claims to have received most of its funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), until the Mexico City policy came into effect in 1986.
PPFA boldly proclaims the strengthening of its already powerful influence in other countries with the PPGP strategy: “With Global Partners, Planned Parenthood is potentially the most influential facilitator of this new era of advocacy…because we are on the ground—here in the United States and worldwide—providing services that transform lives.”
And how…
The efforts fueled by the anti-life movement constantly defy the sovereignty of nations by violating their laws. Because of the death conglomerate’s influence, the government of Argentina, for example, introduced a “reproductive health” mandate in the capital city of Buenos Aires, which has been proven illegal. All legislation regarding actions without parental consent for the so-called “reproductive health” of children under 18 years old has been declared unlawful in two judicial instances. In other words, it is illegal to give minors contraceptives and abortifacients. The very active and well-organized pro-life movement of Argentina—of which HLI’s affiliate, Pro Familia, was a founding member 25 years ago—faces an arduous battle for the future.
The most recent affront in this merciless attack on the poorer countries of the world took place in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in November 2001. The Population Council, the Alan Guttmacher Institute and Mexico’s National Academy of Medicine and National Institute of Public Health joined forces with various national groups and powerful American allies such as Partners in Population and Development, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s International Service Division and The Wellcome Trust. The coalition co-sponsored a conference titled “Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion: Public Health Challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
The program for the conference was painstakingly detailed, as if to design a how-to manual to procure legal abortion in the countries where it is illegal. Laws were examined, the attitudes of men, women and children were researched, the use of surgical and chemical abortion methods were discussed, even post-abortion medical attention was included as one of the sections. Some of the talks given during the three-day conference included: “How to manage pain after D&C abortions in India”; “Cost of maintaining abortion illegal in Chile”; “Investigation as a strategy to improve abortion politics in Nicaragua”; “Post-abortion complications caused by the use of Misoprostol in Brazil”; and “Talking about abortion to diverse audiences” by Frances Kissling, president of (ex-) Catholics for a Free Choice.
Immediately upon learning that this event was to take place, thousands of people mobilized in Mexico to protest the conference, its organizers and participants. VHI’s network of affiliates and collaborators in Latin America offered prayers and critical information to the Mexican pro-lifers. VHI published a special edition of its Electronic Bulletin, denouncing the event. The bulletin contained well-researched exposés of the organizations involved in the conference and an overview of the vast anti-life conglomerate around the world.
A network of pro-life groups around the world, many of which were started with the financial and educational aid of Human Life International (HLI), is the only obstacle standing in the way of these worldwide anti-life efforts. In many countries, HLI’s affiliates are at the forefront of these pro-life efforts.
The mission and scope of HLI’s work stands in stark contrast to the vast resources and powerful supporters of the “death peddlers.” Since it was founded in 1981, HLI has been the number one “global partner” of pro-life groups across the globe. HLI needs your help to come to the aid of pro-lifers around the world to stand against the wave of iniquity that PPFA and the conglomerate of death raise up against humanity.
Sources: Planned Parenthood Federation of America website: www.plannedparenthood.org/fpia/news4.html and www.plannedparenthood.org/global/partnerships. (Downloaded 14 July 2001).
Jacqueline Debs is Vida Humana Internacional's Regional Coordinator for Hispanic Countries.
(This article courtesy of HLI Reports, a publication of Human Life International.)
