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CANADA'S BETRAYAL OF THIRD WORLD WOMEN

Feminists and other pro-abortionists are always scheming to come up with new ways to encourage the use of abortion, abortifacients and contraceptives by third world women.

One of the schemes is to pretend a deep concern about infant mortality and maternal deaths in these third world countries which requires, as a remedy, to no one's surprise, the imposition of "reproductive health care" (abortion and abortifacients) and easy access to contraceptives in these countries. In effect, the "help" offered to third world women is the killing of their babies in the womb and the reduction of the number of their children, which, incidentally, reduces the worrisome population growth in these countries. Worrisome, that is, to western activists, but not to the families living in these countries who regard their children as their wealth.

This approach to women's and children's health is enthusiastically endorsed by western countries, despite the fact that it is contrary to the culture and religion of women living in third world countries. Having no established medical system in place to deal with the complications and side effects of abortion and contraceptive procedures and drugs, such women are unable to deal with the medical complications resulting from their use. But that's no concern of the western activists.

The Liberal government in Ottawa, of course, is always quick to provide support and funding for any and all of these schemes.

For example, Aileen Carroll, Minister of International Co-operation for the Liberal government, noted, in a speech to mark World Health Day, sponsored by the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) that more than half a million women die during pregnancy and childbirth every year and 11 million children die before their fifth birthday. She announced that the Liberal government will "invest" $90 million in new funding for "maternal and child health programs" with a "holistic approach." Part will go to legitimate child health in Africa, but part is to go to "promote sexual and reproductive health programs in Haiti, Bangladesh and Nigeria" and a "significant share of this investment will go to the United Nations Population Fund." (UNFPA) Canada has increased its core funding to UNFPA to address the "decency gap", that is, making up for the "funding shortfall" created when U.S. President George W. Bush cancelled funding to any organization which includes abortion in its "humanitarian" programs. UNFPA has as its priority the promotion of abortion and contraception world wide.

To promote the scheme, of abortion advocacy for third world women, a "World Health Day" breakfast was held at the National Press Club in Ottawa, on April 7, 2005. This breakfast, held under the banner "Make Every Mother and Child Count", was organized by Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada, Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD) whose objective is to promote abortion and contraception world wide, CARE, and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. In its press release announcing the breakfast, Planned Parenthood representative Linda Capperauld is quoted: "To reduce maternal mortality every woman needs easy access to the contraceptive of her choice, and safe and legal abortion." Katherine MacDonald of ACPD claims that governments at UN conventions in Beijing (1995) and Cairo (1994) agreed "that women must be able to decide when and if they want to be sexually active, and to decide when and if they want to have children. If these choices can be guaranteed by governments, then other choices concerning education and employment can be fulfilled."

Senator Lucie Pepin, an experienced hand at promoting abortion and contraceptives, both as a past president of Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada, former president of the Advisory Council of Women, and a former MP and Senator (she knows a lot of the right people), addressed the breakfast participants. In her talk she compared the plight of third world women to that of Quebec women in the 1950's, with "social and religious pressure" on them to have children and to fulfill their "conjugal duties", and prohibitions by Church and State on "prevention of births." "I can never forget those days. It was that unacceptable situation for Canadian women and their children that led me to become involved in politics," she said. With women "taking charge of their own lives", the decriminalization of abortion, health insurance for everyone, and improved obstetrical care "we can be very proud of the progress we have made in this regard" she added. The Senator never mentioned Quebec's demographic deficit, its high abortion rate, the fact that the majority of Quebec children are now born outside marriage, its low marriage rate which threaten the viability of a wide range of social programs as Quebec also has the highest adolescent suicide rate in the world, all fruits of so called liberating activities. "This new freedom has been a springboard for us to become more active in society," she assures us. "The first universal human right should be the right to give birth and to be born without risk," she said. Senator Pepin supports the goal of spending 0.7% of Canada's Gross National Product (GNP) on development aid.

Another speaker at the breakfast was Professor Florence Mirembe, who helped launch World Health Day 2005. She is president of the East, Central and Southern African Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society, and involved in task forces on AIDS, family planning, safe motherhood, and reproductive health. She has published on these issues as well as "abortion care" and domestic violence. She noted that there were resources earmarked for HIV/AIDS which cannot be directed to other health matters. Integrating AIDS and "health rights" would obviously allow "health professionals" to tap into this huge pool of funds. ACPD also wants "the integration of HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health rights", as does the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada - more money to force more abortions on third world women.

Feminist Position Has No Impact

Global feminists and their backers have been promoting abortion, abortifacients, contraception and women's empowerment under the guise of reproductive health and family planning for decades. Billions of dollars later, little has changed for poor women. Professor Mirembe admitted this when she stated, "For the past two decades, global efforts have been made to improve the health of babies and mothers. But in the developing world - there has been little or no success." ACPD claims "almost no progress has been made to reduce the number of women dying from complications of pregnancy." ACPD claims, "The answer lies in equality between men and women, and ensuring that women are able to meaningfully exercise their rights to make decisions concerning sexuality and reproduction." Increased foreign aid to 0.7% GDP "promised by Lester Pearson more than three decades ago" is the panacea recommended.

Tax dollars from Canadian families, however, could be better used to provide genuine medical care to third world families, rather than for the promotion of western feminist ideology through World Health Day and its sister UN agenda. Better sanitation to prevent infections, clean water, improved nutrition and obstetrical care, without an anti-natalist ideological bias, would have produced far better results. Surely a higher regard for the unborn child and the family unit would have borne more fruit, but it is not part of the feminist agenda. It is in western countries, whose alleged patriarchy is so reviled by global feminists, that infant and maternal mortality are lowest.

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