Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised $650 million to pressure African countries on abortion. A Canadian government decision to spend $650 million on abortion and related services in the developing world has been met with outrage and laments on how the vast sum of money could be better spent. Canada should be providing the developing world with the same standard of pre-natal, birth and post-natal care women obtain here, said Dr. Robert Walley, founder and executive director of MaterCare International, a worldwide organization of obstetricians and gynecologists. Walley said world leaders such as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and wealthy philanthropists like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation “don't realize that mothers are women, too.” “So they are discriminating against an enormous number of women who are dying in pregnancy,” he said. Instead of addressing needs for clean water and basic obstetrical care, they say, “If you don’t want to die in pregnancy, the best thing to do is kill your baby.” Walley was responding to a March 8 announcement that the federal government will spend $650 million over three years on what it calls “sexual and reproductive health programs.” In addition to increased support for abortion and related services, in a new twist money will now go to NGOs which engage in advocacy to have abortion legalized in nations that currently ban the practice. “Rather than forcing a pro-abortion ideology on the underdeveloped areas of the world, Canadian tax dollars should be used with the intention of achieving the best results for the money we spend,” said Mike Schouten, director of WeNeedaLaw.ca. Calling the announcement “appalling” and “deeply concerning,” he wondered why Canada is “committing millions of taxpayer dollars that we don’t even have so that organizations such as International Planned Parenthood can continue to masquerade abortion as 'women’s health care' in third-world countries?” The $650 million for overseas abortion can be better spent: critics (catholicregister.org) Many Africans think that international efforts to promote abortion are a prime example of cultural colonialism. One member of Kenya’s Parliament, Jennifer Shamalla, said that she and her colleagues were “deeply concerned” about the U.N.’s promotion of abortion under the banner of population and development policy. ... Abortion advocates at the summit, including the leaders of International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes International, as well as U.N. officials, made derisive comments about pro-life resistance to their efforts. Sadly, they have also succeeded in attaching purse strings to the U.N.'s development agenda. The summit organizers boast of having raised commitments of $1 billion from Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission, as well as some $8 billion in pledges from the private sector. That places African leaders in the unenviable position of choosing between much-needed development assistance and upholding their people's values. Pro-Life Nations Reject U.N.’s Cultural Colonialism on Abortion, Population Control | The Heritage Foundation
