“Pro-Life” = “Pro-Death” For Poor Women

Reduction of maternal mortality is one of the UN Millennium Development Goal: “Countries should strife to effect significant reductions in maternal mortality by the year 2015″. People who called themselves “Pro-Lifer”, working against those that are called “Pro-Choice”, are not at all promoting life, instead they promote “Forced Pregnancy” which to me is “Pro-Death” for millions of women living in poor areas around the world, women who desperately need sexual and reproductive health services including family planning from their government and the international communities. Young girls need programme for sex education to prevent “unwanted pregnancy”, that not only can ruine their future working life as productive citizens, but also can force them to seek unsanitary botch abortion. When “Pro-Life” governments withdraw assistance to reproductive health and family planning services, they also work against the Millennium Development Goal which they had already agreed to for decades. It means that they are responsible for the increasing the rate of abortion and maternal morbidity and mortality, and suffering for large numbers of poor women in the World. I am glad that there are men, such as Nicholas Kristof, Columnist of the NY Times, who spoke up in protest and raiseed the question “Can this be pro-life?” . At the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo, and the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, more than 180 governments adopted action to provide information, education and services for maternal health including sexual and reproductive health and family planning, the prevention of abortion and the management of the consequences of abortion and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. It is sad to hear of the news that this month one government, the present “Pro-Life” United States Administration, is cutting off financial aid to reproductive health and family planning programmes to agencies that provide services to women who live in poverty areas around the world.

Filed under Gender Issues, United Nations, World Affairs |