International Violence Against Women Act Prompts Abortion Promotion Concerns
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 27, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to bring up the International Violence Against Women Act this week and the legislation, despite its good-sounding name, is prompting concerns for pro-life groups that it could be used to promote abortion internationally.
The rhetoric of the bill sounds nice — is there anyone other than radical extremists who favors violence against women?
But, Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America says "The problems with I-VAWA are hidden in the fine print under the lofty rhetoric" with the "predictable agenda" of "abortion-on-demand on a global scale."
"The I-VAWA (Section 3) acknowledges U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 — which, as those who are knowledgeable about the U.N. recognize, is the section that is cited as mandating the protection of reproductive rights," Crouse notes.
The pro-life women’s group spokeswoman says abortion advocates frequently equate "reproductive rights" with abortion and a lack of such "rights" with domestic violence. "The I-VAWA would allocate $10 million a year to the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM (Section 201), one of the major U.N. agencies devoted to promoting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which prominently feature reproductive rights."
The I-VAWA bill (Section 112) also includes provisions for grants to Women’s Nongovernmental Organizations and Community-Based Organizations, many of which are pro-abortion and actively promote abortion in other nations.
The organization that has taken the lead in promoting I-VAWA is the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), "which stands to receive a major portion of I-VAWA funds," Crouse says. The FVPF promotes "training and sensitization" programs for judges and judicial officials that will solidify "access to reproductive services."
The bill establishes an "Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues," who could become an aggressive abortion advocate.
CWA’s Crouse says the bill is ironic in that it doesn’t address sex-selective abortion, which the pro-life group notes "is one of today’s most egregious policies perpetuating violence against women."
"Both China and India are facing shortages of marriageable-age women as a result of decades of this practice, a demographic fact that has sociologists and politicians concerned about the future of those nations," CWA says.
Crouse says the breakdown of marriage and family do more to promote violence than failing to promote abortion.
"The facts are clear: the breakdown of marriage and family has been a major factor in increasing violence and abuse against women and children. The sad reality is that we are spinning our wheels as a nation in trying to keep up with the problems of women who are not protected by their husbands and of children who are denied the presence and protection of mature, concerned fathers," Crouse says. " A married father-mother home is the safest and most nurturing place for the nation’s women and children."
Lead sponsors of the bills in the House and Senate include longtime abortion advocates.
Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Barbara Boxer of California and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine are behind the bill in the Senate.
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