Senate Ignores Pro-Life Concerns: Votes to Pay U.N. "Debt"
While Rep. Chris Smith is working to gain support in the House
for a rider conditioning payment of U.N arrearages on passage of a rider
protecting U.S. taxpayers from having to foot the bill for agencies that
lobby foreign governments to weaken their pro-life laws, the Senate
passed a package that would pay the bulk of the huge amount demanded by
the United Nations with nary a word about pro-life concerns. Last year,
the $25 million requested for the United Nations Fund for Population
Activities was denied because pro-life Senators were rightfully
concerned about the coercive population control policies in communist
China. Furthermore, Rep. Smith succeeded in attaching his rider in the
House, causing President Clinton to veto the bill, even though he was
eager to pay off the U.N.. He simply would not sign a bill that
contained even a mild pro-life provision.
This year, according to a Reuters report (6/22/99), the United
States must pay at least $250 million of the back dues by the end of the
year or lose its seat in the General Assembly. Our vote in the Security
Council would not be affected. According to the U.N., we "owe" $1.6
billion for "peacekeeping" and other regular dues, two-thirds of the
$2.9 billion owed by all member states. Many in Congress think this is
outrageous, given the fact that we have born most of the burden of U.N
military actions abroad, in addition to the critical need for U.N
reforms. Reuters reports that "the bill calls for a series of U.N.
reforms worked out in a compromise between Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright and the bill’s author, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jesse
Helms." The reform most needed at the U.N. is to get them out of the
population control business.
Although Senators are ignoring pro-life concerns in this area,
Rep. Smith and pro-life leaders in the House have not yet considered the
issue. Please contact your congressman and ask him to support Rep.
Smith’s rider preventing payment of U.N dues unless federal funding of
agencies that promote abortion abroad is prohibited.
Guatemala
One of the countries that deeply resents U.N. population
controllers’ efforts to corrupt its society through so-called "family
planning" programs, Guatemala, has adhered to the proposal to establish
March 25 as the "Day of the Unborn." The text of Agreement Number 21-99
of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala acknowledges that "the
State guarantees human life from conception, in keeping with the
American Convention on Human Rights, of which the Republic of Guatemala
is a signatory . . ." The agreement states that the declaration of
March 25 as the "Day of the Unborn" will "be widely publicized in all
national and private educational centers, coupled with campaigns for
life, respect for oneself and for others." Argentine president Carlos
Menem requested the political leaders of Latin America, Portugal, Spain
and the Philippines to support this initiative. (ZENIT News Agency,
5/24/99)
Michigan
A bi-partisan group of state senators has introduced legislation
protecting the conscience rights of Michigan citizens who want
abortion-free health care coverage. The three-bill package, SB 645-647,
by Senators Beverly Hammerstrom, Dave Jaye and Phil Hoffman, would
eliminate elective abortions as a standard covered benefit in health
care plans and would require those wanting such coverage to request and
pay for abortion coverage in a separate policy rider. Abortion is a
standard benefit in most health care plans. Senator Hoffman, sponsor of
SB 647, suggested the onus should be on abortion proponents to request
such coverage. "This whole situation is backwards. If abortion is
supposed to be a matter of "choice," then shouldn’t people who want
abortion covered have to choose it? Right now, those who don’t want it
are forced to pay for it. These bills don’t deny anyone the ability to
get abortion coverage. They simply have to ask for it in a separate
rider, and be willing to pay a separate premium, too." (Joint Press
Release, 6/10/99)
