Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Urges Canada to Promote Abortion at G8 Mtg
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 31, 2010
Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) — After signing bills over the last two weeks that promote taxpayer funded abortions in a national health care program, the Obama administration is taking its promotion of abortion abroad. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attacked Canada’s Prime Minster for not promoting abortion at an upcoming conference.
At issue is the decision by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is promoting better maternal mortality as its signature initiative at the upcoming G8 summit Canada is hosting in June.
Harper was initially reluctant to include contraception in the centerpiece plan Canada is advocating, but he has ruled out including abortion.
That met with opposition from Clinton, a longtime abortion advocate and the top international official in the administration of pro-abortion President Barack Obama.
"You cannot have maternal health without reproductive health," Clinton said at a Tuesday news conference. "And reproductive health includes contraception and family planning and access to legal, safe abortion."
"I’ve also been very involved in promoting family planning and contraception as a way to prevent abortion. If you’re concerned about abortion, then women should have access to family planning," Clinton added. "And finally, I do not think governments should be involved in making these decisions."
But research shows if the Obama administration and world governments want to lower maternal mortality, expanding abortion isn’t the way to go.
A February study from the nation of Chile undercut claims by global abortion lobbyists that liberal abortion laws are necessary to reduce maternal mortality rates.
According Dr. Elard Koch, an epidemiologist on the faculty of medicine at the University of Chile, Chile’s promotion of "safe pregnancy" measures such as "prenatal detection" and accessibility to professional birth attendants in a hospital setting are primarily responsible for the decrease in maternal mortality.
The maternal mortality rate declined from 275 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1960 to 18.7 deaths in 2000, the largest reduction in any Latin country despite the fact that abortions are illegal there.
Statistics released by the World Health Organization (WHO) support such conclusions. In South America, according to WHO, Chile boasts of the lowest rate of maternal mortality, whereas Guyana, which significantly liberalized its laws in the mid-1990s citing concern over maternal deaths, has the highest.
Other research data continues to show that nations where women and children are protected from abortions see the lowest maternal mortality rates.
A December report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows that countries with restrictive abortion laws are often the leaders in reducing maternal mortality, and those with permissive laws often lag.
Both Ireland and Poland, favorite targets of the abortion lobby for their strong restrictions on abortion, have better maternal mortality ratios than the United States.
Ireland ranks first in the survey with 1 death for every 100,000 live births. In recent years Poland has tightened its abortion law and ranks number 27 on the list with 8 deaths per 100,000. In the United States where there are virtually no restrictions on abortion, the maternal mortality ratio is 17 out of 100,000 live births.
Other regions of the world show similar trends. The African nation with the lowest maternal mortality rate is Mauritius, a country with some of the continent’s most protective laws for the unborn.
On the other end of the spectrum is Ethiopia, which has decriminalized abortion in recent years in response to global abortion lobby pressure. Ethiopia’s maternal death rate is 48 times higher than in Mauritius. South Africa has the continent’s most liberal abortion laws and also a high maternal mortality ratio of 400 deaths per 100,000.
Similarly in Asia, Nepal, where there is no restriction on the procedure, has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates. The lowest in the region is Sri Lanka, with a rate fourteen times lower than that of Nepal. According to the pro-abortion public interest law firm Center for Reproductive Rights, Sri Lanka has among the most restrictive abortion laws in the world.
Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com
Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.
