Scandal - £400 million grant for Abortion/Contraceptives in Third World

 On the economic and social front it has been a difficult week for the British people. The government have announced drastic - some would say draconian,  cuts,  affecting every aspect of society. Health, education, law and order, employment, housing, defence, you name it and it has suffered. But what's this, a government department unaffected by the economy drive, can it be true? Indeed it is, for the DFID - the 'Department for International Development' is apparently going ahead without so much as a sideways glance, in its stated plan to give £360,000,000 to the IPPF -the International Planned Parenthood Fund to fund 'sexual and reproductive health rights' aka 'widespread availability of contraception and abortion facilities', particularly for women in poor countries. 

Why should the British taxpayer foot the bill for such  a cause? What right has this government or any government to commit our money - £360,000,000 of it, and more, to a cause which many people consider positively evil? Why do those responsible think that this money is better spent on providing contraceptives and abortion facilities in third world countries - many of whom do not want them but are having them forced on them by Western powers in a form of (im)moral blackmail, rather than using the money at home where it is really needed for the genuine good of our own people?

 'Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places' (St Pauls letter to the Ephesians 6, 10-17)

               

                               

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    OVER £400,000,000 PROMISED BY UK GOVERNMENT

    TO FUND ABORTION AND CONTRACEPTIVES  IN  THIRD WORLD

£47,000,000 Grant over 5 years, by UK AID to fund ‘sexual and reproductive health and rights for all’ PLUS
£360,000,000 over 2 years, from UK, promised by Prime Minister, David Cameron, at G8 Summit 2010, for the same purpose. 
  http://www.ippf.org/     

With the government looking  to save money, one department surely deserving of scrutiny must be the ‘Department for International Development (DFID)’, responsible for distributing UK Aid (taxpayer’s money) to worthwhile causes overseas. One particular organisation, little known to most people, the recipient of huge funding from the UK and other Western governments, is the ‘International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)’. 

‘IPPF is a global service provider and a leading advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all’.  This rather grand statement translates as 'a global supplier of  contraceptives and  abortion facilities, and access to these - particularly for women in poor countries.' 
 

 Founded by the American birth-control activist and founder of the American Birth Control League, Margaret Sanger, in 1952,  IPPF has six Regional Offices, with headquarters in London, employing over 300 people, and with  a global network of Member Associations in over 170 countries.  It is no coincidence that the origins of IPPF can be traced back to the Eugenics movement of the early 20th century, when contraception and abortion were regarded  as a means of population control, especially in those countries now considered third world countries, and with euthanasia proposed for certain ‘mentally retarded and  criminal elements of society’.

Bitter opponents of the Catholic Church and ‘pro-life’ and ‘anti-abortion’ organisations, the IPPF presents a liberal and humanist ethos.  It receives financial support from the governments of most Western nations, particularly from the Scandinavian countries, from  the USA,  Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, with  wealthy  philanthropic organisations like the Bill Gates Foundation, providing a substantial and continuing flow of income.

For the period 1st April 2008 - 1st March 2013, the UK government  approved a Grant of £43,000,000  to support the ‘core work objectives of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).’ 

In addition, at the G8 Summit meeting this year, David Cameron pledged an additional £360,000,000 aid over 2 years.  

Additionally the UK government made a further Grant of £4,000,000  for the ‘IPPF Safe Abortion Action Fund’(SAAF)  for the period 01/03/2007 to 01/03/2009, a  fund  for the ‘increased utilisation of quality safe abortion and post abortion services, especially by young, poor, and vulnerable women’

 The IPPF is a registered UK charity, with eleven of its employees earning £60,000 plus P.A.,  seven earning £100,000 plus P.A., and the top earner on £228,000 P.A. 

 http://www.ippf.org/NR

The IPPF is not part of any government sector, and there appear to be no conditions attached to the grants. 

The funding is for ‘procurement of services relating to population policies/programmes and reproductive health care’ worldwide.

Its purpose and objective is geared to population control, with a projected policy of contraception and abortion for young, poor and vulnerable women, particularly in Third World and poorer countries.  

It has its own commercial arm dealing in the marketing and supply of contraceptives.           

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An official partnership programme between DFID and IPPF has been set up, in which the DFID’s  Policy Division  ‘recognises the specific role of IPPF in implementing DFID policy in the areas of sexual and reproductive health and rights, AIDS and maternal health, requiring sustained high-level advocacy work and international leadership in a difficult policy environment’    

(N.B.. It appears from the DFID website that the current £47,046,525 funding went solely to projects in Bangladesh) http://www.dfid.gov.uk

I’m sure that most reasonable people would agree, that as a nation and where possible, we must help those less fortunate than ourselves. To provide funds to feed the starving, home the homeless, help those suffering from the effects of war or natural disasters, bring hope to the despairing, and other similar situations, are all clearly good causes. 

However the provision of ‘contraception and abortion facilities’, is not in this category. Tax-payers have a legitimate interest in the beneficiaries of these huge grants, after all it is their money that the government is giving away, and very many on religious and/or ethical grounds consider this an evil cause, as I do, with many others, on purely rational grounds, opposed to such questionable profligacy  in today's economic climate.

The government has previously asked for our views on saving their (our) money. A letter or e-mail to one of the Ministers listed below, complaining of :-

 

a) the use to which these very substantial Grants will be put;

b) the nature of the organisation to which the Grants are made; and  

c) the very significant sums of (tax-payers) money funding these Grants, money which could be better used supporting our own fragile public services such as health, education, housing, employment, etc. - would seem called for.
 

Secretary of State for International Development - Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP 
Minister of State for International Development - Alan Duncan MP
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development - Stephen O'Brien MP 

 ‘There are three kinds of lies -  lies, damned lies, and statistics' (attributed to various sources).

  The following statement was made by Gill Greer, IPPF Director General, concerning  promises of further financial funding made at the G8 Summit this year:-
 

 “This is a significant step forward in saving the lives of world’s most vulnerable women and children. Ideological motivations meant that life saving family planning was purposefully omitted from the Millennium Development Goals, and therefore many funding decisions, until 2008. In those eight years, the consequence of sidelining access to modern methods of family planning was the death of 5.1 million women and 1.2 million children. A further 4.8 million children were orphaned. The political leadership, and the funds that must surely follow, of the G8 and other countries will help prevent this human tragedy from ever occurring again.”
 http://www.ippf.org

How can Gill Greer possibly guess, let alone present as fact, the mortality and orphan figures she quotes?   They appear as figures plucked from the lottery, impossible to check, impressive to those who want to be impressed, but otherwise wildly speculative.  

This quote, and the rest of the same IPPF report, throws out numbers like confetti at a wedding, and has the stamp of political spin. There is  no reference to the known adverse physical and psychological effects of contraception and abortion, or the moral or ethical issues involved.
  

To conclude, with thanks to ‘Eugenics-Watch’ website

‘On one side are the rich and powerful eugenicists, the followers of Malthus by way of Darwin. These Scrooges think that there are too many sick, too many old, too many inferior, too many Chinese, too many Indians, too many, too many, too many people. They want to take evolution into their own qualified, elite, wonderful hands; they don't believe in the sanctity of life or in democracy, its political expression; and they have learned nothing from the series of social disasters which their policies have inflicted on this century - except to be careful not to get caught. That's one choice.
‘And on the other side, there are the orthodox Catholics - and others of good faith (my italics), who believe that the world was made by a great and loving Creator on behalf of persons, all of whom are immortal souls from the moment of conception. Catholics believe that the world has a Redeemer, Jesus Christ; and a mother to teach it unselfishness - the great Mother of God, Mary most holy. Therefore they oppose that degradation of human beings which is eugenics, and support democracy. That's another choice.’
                          

Recommended website for further information on Margaret Sanger, eugenicism, and the IPPF  -    http://www.trdd.org
The website  'Les Femmes - the Truth', also ran an interesting post on Margaret Sanger in June/July this year. 

Much of the above post appeared on my other blog-site 'umblepie' in July this year. At that time it was not clear exactly how  the Coalition government would deal with this, however it is now apparent from events in the House of Commons this week, that it has no intention of changing its stated policy in this particular matter.  £400,000,000 would go a long way in alleviating at least some of the hardships of our own people.

On August 10th this year I wrote to  the Ministers concerned, Rt. Hon.Andrew Mitchell MP, Alan Duncan MP, and Stephen O'Brien MP, through the House of Commons address, sending each letter separately by 1st class post, expressing my strong objections  and  requesting that the matter be reconsidered.   I received no reply and must assume that  my letters were totally ignored.

Maybe, if sufficient people were to make their opinions known to the appropriate Ministers,  perhaps also their own MP, some effective good  might be achieved.

'All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing' (att. Burke)

'St George, St Andrew, and St David - pray for us and for our  Country'