NRL News
Page 10
Fall 2012
Volume 39
Issue 4

Election Will Have Serious International Ramifications on Unborn Children

By Paul Stark

Abortion isn’t just an American problem. It is a global moral catastrophe. And the lives of unborn children around the world are at stake on November 6.

Under President Barack Obama, the United States has sided with extremists seeking to enshrine abortion as a fundamental right in international law, which could then compel nations that protect unborn children to accept abortion on demand. (And it could prevent the United States from being able to enact laws to prohibit abortion even after Roe v. Wade is overturned.) Obama’s Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, told Congress that the administration would advocate “reproductive health” worldwide and that “reproductive health includes access to abortion.” (No United Nations-negotiated document has defined reproductive health to include a right to abortion.)

On his fourth day in office, Obama issued an executive order to fund organizations that perform and promote abortion overseas. The Mexico City Policy was instituted by President Ronald Reagan to deny U.S. foreign aid funds to such organizations. The policy was reversed by Bill Clinton and then reinstated by George W. Bush. Obama reversed it again—effectively diverting American money to groups that perform and advocate abortion in other countries. Millions of our tax dollars now bankroll the aggressive promotion of abortion around the globe.

The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), which is dedicated to establishing abortion as an enforceable “human right” worldwide, filed a lawsuit attempting to block the Mexico City Policy during Bush’s presidency. The CRR boasted that several countries legalized abortion during the Clinton Administration, when the policy was not in effect and recipients of U.S. funds were free to push abortion. The scope of the damage during Obama’s tenure is not yet clear.

During 2010 the Obama Administration worked to influence the adoption of a new constitution in Kenya that legalized abortion. In doing so, the administration seems to have arguably violated U.S. law, prompting an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress.

“The Obama administration basically hired surrogates to do its dirty work of abortion promotion in Kenya,” explained Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights. “U.S. policy on international constitutional reform is, by law, supposed to be abortion-neutral. This new [GAO] report shows that at a minimum the Obama administration ignored the prohibition with the end result being a new Kenyan constitution that vastly expands access to abortion in Kenya, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.”

In addition to rescinding the Mexico City Policy, Obama restored and increased U.S. funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which has aided the enforcement of China’s one-child policy that has included horrific campaigns of forced abortions and sterilizations. The UNFPA also promotes abortion at the United Nations and elsewhere.

Barack Obama has used America’s wealth and influence to help spread abortion and bully pro-life countries into accepting abortion on demand. His opponent, Mitt Romney, takes a different position.

“On day one, I will reinstate the Mexico City Policy,” he pledged in a speech earlier this year. “I will cut off funding for the United Nations Population Fund, which supports China’s barbaric one-child policy.

“And let me be clear: Mine will be a pro-life presidency.”

At stake in this election–internationally just as here at home–is the dignity and right to life of both unborn children and their mothers as precious members of the human family.