Pro-life Citizens Support Bush Administration in US Congress

	In a move that took opponents by surprise, more than one hundred
volunteers lobbied on Capitol Hill Tuesday in support of President George
W. Bush’s pro-life, pro-family positions in the international arena.
Organizers chose the day to overlap a planned lobbying push of
international pro-abortion groups, who feel increasingly threatened by
President Bush’s commitment to a new set of pro-life development
priorities for the third world.

	The lobbyists, organized and led by the Family Research Council,
Concerned Women for America, the Eagle Forum, and the Catholic Family and
Human Rights Institute, wore bright red “Motherhood” lapel buttons and
many of them came with their own young children. They told lawmakers why
the Bush administration’s policies were both moral and practical, and why
women around the world deserved the same support and freedom from coercion
that women in America enjoy.

	The lobbyists made the case that British and American government
investigators found evidence of coercion in the Chinese regions in which
the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) operates, and explained why
Secretary of State Colin Powell concluded that UNFPA helps China’s forced
abortion campaign to run more effectively. The lobbyists sought assurances
from politicians that they would vote against reinstating US funding for
UNFPA.

	The lobbyist also defended the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits US
funding for foreign family planning groups that perform or promote
abortion. The lobbyists told lawmakers that the federal government does
not pay for abortion in the United States, so Mexico City simply acts to
extend this policy overseas. They also explained that the Mexico City
Policy is not a form of censorship, since foreign groups are allowed to
say whatever they would like about abortion, just not at US taxpayers’
expense.

	The lobbyists described US policy at UN conferences, and how the Bush
administration has worked to ensure the rights of parents to control the
education of their children, to ensure that “reproductive rights” do not
include abortion for children as young as ten years of age, and to ensure
that women in the developing world get more from the international
community than condoms, things such as clean water, sanitation, and basic
medical care.

	This lobbying push was accompanied by advertisements in the Capitol Hill
magazine CQ Today that were sponsored by a coalition of groups from around
the world, such as the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children in
the United Kingdom, Focus on the Family, Human Life International and the
Population Research Institute in the United States, Africa Christian
Action, Pro-Life Tanzania., and Movimento Solidaridad Popular Cristiana in
Mexico. These groups represent the views of millions of people worldwide.

	The citizen lobbyists reported many responsive lawmakers, but also noted
resistance from pro-abortion Congressional staff. For instance, when
informed of forced abortion in China, Clara Evans, Senior Legislative
Assistant for Howard Berman (D-CA), responded, “One person’s coercion is
another person’s advice.”

Copyright – C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute). 
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.

Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 427
New York, New York 10017
Phone: (212) 754-5948     Fax: (212) 754-9291     
E-mail: c-fam@c-fam.org    Website: www.c-fam.org