UK Government's £407 million pledged to international abortion agency

Today is the Feast Day of the 'Solemnity of The Most Holy Redeemer' - a very special day for the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (F.SS.R).
Here on Stronsay, we had a beautiful sung Mass - no.2 in the Liber Usualis (Kyrie fons bonitatis), with the Proper of the Mass, and motet for 3 voices - 'Panis Angelicus' by Casciolini. The Mass was celebrated by Fr Anthony Mary F.SS.R, with Fr Michael Mary F.SS.R and the Brothers in attendance. (See 'Transalpine Redemptorist' link on side-bar)
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 'Render to God the things that are God's, and to Caesar the things that are Caesar's'

£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/en/Resources/Statements/G8+Maternal+Health+Initiative+must+include+funding+for+family+planning.htm

What do we think about this?    

 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 could be interpreted 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’  
 SAAF
 Additionally, £46,525 was paid into the same Fund for the period 01/04/2009 to 31/05/2009.                   

 The IPPF is a registered UK charity, with 11 of its employees earning £60,000 plus P.A.,  7 earning £100,000 plus P.A., and the top earner on £228,000 P.A. 
 http://www.ippf.org/NR/rdonlyres/32AEAA76-7D95-49Financial Statements 2009

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 a commercial arm dealing in the marketing and supply of contraceptives.             

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 'open-handed generosity' in today's difficult economic climate.

 The government has 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. If these fact were more generally known I believe that there would be public outrage. The government must be called to account - this funding must stop.
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/NR/rdonlyres/32AEAA76-7D95-49F6-8665-9D50FB4F83E9/0/IPPFFinancialStatements2009.pdf

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.  She does not mention the possible number of unborn babies that would have been killed in one way or another, had modern methods of family planning been adopted 8 years previously. 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 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

 N.B.   Please also see website for 'Les Femmes - the Truth', who   has an interesting current post on Margaret Sanger; there is a link to this website on my sidebar.