EU proposes $38 million to advance 'reproductive health'

New York City, N.Y., Oct 31, 2013 / 11:06 am

Pro-life advocates are voicing concern over abortion funding after a report revealed that the European Commission has set aside 28 million euro, roughly $38.4 million, for projects related to "sexual and reproductive health."

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union.

"The specific objective is to contribute to improved universal access to reproductive health," said the European Commission of its grant program, "Investing in People: Good health for all.

The commission added that it is concerned especially for "developing countries which have the worst indicators."

The commission explained that the programs will fund maternity programs and "universal access" to a range of services falling under "reproductive and sexual healthcare, services, supplies, education and information (including information on all kinds of family planning methods)."

J.C. von Krempach, of Catholic Family and Human Rights, an organization monitoring international law and activism, explained in an Oct. 29 blog post that international organizations often use the term "sexual health" as code in order to "carry out abortions in developing countries."

"Very cynically, those abortions are often dubbed as 'menstrual regulation', a term specifically coined to mislead, so that the women concerned do not even know what is done to them."

In addition, he said, grant money from projects such as "Investing in People: Good health for all" "feeds organizations like the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Marie Stopes International (MSI), and Ipas."

The document explaining the European Commission's program later clarified that the "wider range of family planning methods" did include the promotion of contraceptives and abortion.

Primary "health care should, inter alia, include," the document said, "abortion," alongside "prevention of abortion and the management of the consequences of abortion," maternal care, infertility treatment, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, infections, and other health care conditions.

Krempach explained that the provision of abortion violates definitions of "sexual and reproductive health" adopted at a 1994 meeting of the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, which "clearly excludes abortion from the scope of" health care.

Nevertheless, the "European Commission and the above-mentioned NGOs pretend that abortion is included" in proposals such as these, he said.

He argued that "it would be necessary for a 'call for proposals' such as this to contain a clarification that abortions, whatever name is given to them, will not be funded," to correct the error and conform with international definitions of sexual and reproductive health.

"The present call for tender does not contain such clarification," Krempach said.