International

Melinda Gates raises $4.6 billion to fund pro-abortion groups in poor countries

The pockets of the international pro-abortion agenda are deep.

Sadly, instead of using their huge financial and political resources to help the poorest of the poor in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa get basic medical care, sanitation, and food, pro-abortion billionaires such as Melinda Gates (husband of Microsoft founder Bill Gates) are funneling resources into programs aimed at reducing population growth by a variety of means, including abortion.

This from the London Summit on Family Planning website:

On 11 July 2012 the UK Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with UNFPA and other partners will host a groundbreaking summit that will mobilize global policy, financing, commodity, and service delivery commitments to support the rights of an additional 120 million women and girls in the world’s poorest countries to use contraceptive information, services and supplies, without coercion or discrimination, by 2020.

Steven Ertelt reports:

The Family Planning Summit sponsored by pro-abortion activist Melinda Gates has concluded and the sponsors and supporters of it have raised billions to promote population control worldwide.

Lisa Correnti, of the pro-life group C-FAM, which has been monitoring the summit, provided details about the final numbers.

“The UK Family Planning summit has concluded and the total financial commitment by attending countries and foundations amounts to $4.6 billion, which exceeds the $4 billion goal,” she explained.

Groups such as the Gates foundation often attempt to mask their population control aims by focusing on funding contraception instead of abortion. But make no mistake – the goal of these programs is to reduce the number of children born to poor mothers. Austin Ruse, president of C-FAM, writes to expose this sleight of hand:

[Melinda] Gates insists her program will not be coercive and that it will not be connected to the abortion debate. But, in fact, her key partners are hip-deep in abortion and coercion. The UN Population Fund helped set up the Chinese one-child policy. International Planned Parenthood Federation is the world’s largest abortion provider and its U.S. affiliate has been shown to accept sex-selective abortions. And the UK Department of International Development was just accused by the left-leaning Guardian of funding coercive family planning in India.

Proponents of this agenda are worried about their plans being exposed for what they are. During the course of the meeting in London, for instance, pro-abortion organizers of the event tried to eject pro-life activist Wendy Wright from the gathering even though she had approved press credentials.

Make no mistake – the international pro-abortion movement continues apace in part because of our silence. We need to do everything we can to get the word out about their true agenda and how they are taking advantage of poor countries to push their own agenda. You can learn more about what is happening internationally at the Turtle Bay and Beyond blog, run by C-FAM and, of course, by continuing to follow Live Action News!

UPDATE: On a somewhat related note, I came across this fascinating graphic that puts the world’s population into some perspective:

   
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  • Detroiter327

    I find this article very interesting, especially since I was trolling this website from Kenya two months ago. Part of the reason this birth control program, esp. the shot, are needed is that in Africa and other parts of the world there is a huge amount of coerced pregnancies. Wouldnt being forced to get pregnant (rape comes in many shapes and sizes) and have a child be just as bad being forced to have an abortion? Its also not so easy to say that this money could go to food aid etc. Do you know what happens to a good portion of the food aid in Africa? Its stolen and sold for profit. There even have been incidences of people involved in the government doing it. Kenya has gone from 2.9 millon to 37 million in 80 years. That is a good reason people have no access to sanitation and medical care, their systems cannot cope with the huge amount of people. They do not have the natural resources or industry to support that many. The graphic you put is also misleading and fairly fascinating in its ignorance. Since, Hey! If we can fit the whole population of the world into America overpopulation is a myth! In the most densely populated part of Nairobi (the Kibera) there is no water, no electricity, and it is by far the most dangerous area in Kenya. Since there is no access to contraception at one time 50% of the 16-25 years olds were pregnant. How can anyone say that is a good thing!?! I would challenge anyone who has been to a densely populated slum in Africa or India to look me in the eye and say “You know what! They would be just fine here with another 500,000 people!”. The Gates Foundation is attempting to make contraception available to women who WANT it. There is a huge demand for it, and they are stepping up to the plate. Along the way there will more likely be less pregnancy related deaths, less coerced pregnancy, and a higher quality of life. You make several mentions of “the real agenda” etc. Im curious what you think that actually is?

    • bubbalouwee

      Depopulation is their “real agenda”. The UN is a massive killing machine. There are 45-50 million unborn children slaughtered worldwide on an annual basis, and you can probably multiply that massive number by about 10 to get the number killed by abortificients and contraceptives. In addition, there are freaks at our airports molesting innocent Americans who need to travel, and there are checkpoints being set up all across our country, especially around the borders. Why have concentration camps been built in the USA? The left refer to them as detention centers, to make it sound like people sent there deserve it. It looks like they are preparing to “get rid” of people opposed to their tyranny. It looks like massive depopulation to me. What do you call it?

      • Chris

        I agree. Reduce the population down to 90% and slave the rest.

    • Anonymous

      Thank you for pointing all of this out. I might also add that even if humans were all to be concentrated in a small area, we’d never be able to support ourselves in that space. Saying “Humans aren’t overpopulated! There are still forests and plains and pastures and farmland! We should just pave it all over and we’ll have plenty of space!” is ridiculous. We’d run out of basic resources, like food and fresh water, really quickly.

    • Tess

      Detroiter327: I simply love you. Thank god there are sane people found on these sites too! Keep it up!! Sincerely, One who was lucky enough (white and rich) to have access to abortion when needing it

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michelle-M-Williams/1021964754 Michelle M. Williams

      Thank you Detroiter. These maps are not taking into account how much water, food, and sanitation is needed to keep everyone alive. The lives of women in those countries are very different from women in the West.

      And it’s true that donating food doesn’t work either. Not only is food stolen and then given to armies, it can also mess up the economy for subsistence farmers making it impossible to sell their own grain.

    • Kristiburtonbrown

      I don’t think we have an objection to women being provided contraception if that’s what the women want. It’s just that 1) we believe the issue is bigger than contraception alone, and 2) we don’t believe women should be offered contraception that kills their children. If it’s contraception that prevents pregnancy, then hey, yeah, that’s absolutely those women’s choice and they should have access to that.

      • Detroiter327

        Everyone keeps saying its not just about the contraception. What exactly is the issue then, since no one has really attempted to articulate it without emphasis on the larger than life conspiracy aspect ? I also am confused with point two. So women should not be offered contraception because of a theory that has no sound medical basis, and only a few people believe in?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001792057535 Holly Hansard

    I have a friend in Kenya. He is shocked that the MOVE to encourage abortion is rampart. Abortion is NOT a cure for poverty, folks. Abortion includes “chemical abortions.” Some in the Pro-abortion “birth control” movement, consider “chemical abortions” to be the same as, ‘contraception.”

    • Detroiter327

      Im confused how the move to encourage abortion in Kenya is “rampart” since many of the people your discussing cannot afford abortion to begin with. PS lets put it into perspective here. You are discussing chemical abortions when we are discussing a continent where women still get beaten for suggesting using condoms.

  • Rebecca Downs

    This foundation has done many good things for poor people, and while a contraception initiative may not be the world’s worst initiative, it saddens me that such is an initiative that people don’t understand by its nature does have some controversy involved with it. I’m having a lengthy Facebook debate over it though… To try and fix some problems of the poor in the world by ensuring some of them don’t even exist just seems like a quick and easy fix rather than addressing real problems that need to be addressed. Yes, there sadly are women in the world who die or are injured by pregnancy. But Melinda Gates should stick to her Catholic faith which she claims to follow and help pregnant women then and give them the prenatal care and health care for their children that they really need!

    • Detroiter327

      Yes. Because women who dont want to have children really need them. The whole thing is about giving contraception to women who want it. Again we are speaking about countries where using a condom can get you beaten, and a portion of these women in slums who are pregnant become so through rape.

    • Detroiter327

      In the Kiebra: Context of first pregnancy
      Pregnancy was an accident 73.0
      Got pregnant because of lack of knowledge about FP or where to get it 53.3
      Considered ending the pregnancy 31.6
      Father does not support girl or the baby financially 28.3
      Got pregnant to prove fertility 17.6
      Got pregnant because sex was forced 14.8
      Father does not know about pregnancy 11.9
      http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/AdolKiberaSlums.pdf

  • http://www.facebook.com/kuzmabiz Faith Irene

    Dear Detroiter–It sounds as though you have a sincere concern for the people of Africa. However, is population itself really a problem? There are legitimate concerns about the effects of population control efforts — Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Explosion.is mentioned In a documentary called Demographic Winter, Experts critique that analysis, pointing out that populations have leveled off and that in several countries there is no longer even a replacement of current population Some countries, notably Russia, France, and Germany (others also) have introduced “baby bounties” to encourage childbearing. African nations face many financial difficulties, but it can be argued that population control practices result in a further economic disadvantage, since (in purely economic terms) eliminating people results in fewer consumers and producers. Do we agree that, as a shared value, violence is never a good solution? Abortion is essentially an approach that employs violence (ending human life). Violence is not a good answer–even in response to rape (and those women who were raped and then were encouraged to abort express trauma at the further experience of violence). We might agree that historically Americans tend to assume we can and should solve the problems other nations face and that we can go in and fix it for them whether they like it or not. At times, food aid is withheld until poor countries go along.. Is this right? It should give us pause when ever we assume America’s way is the only way,
    and it is not just conservatives who have done that. In fact, liberals such as Melinda Gates, are presenting the face once again, of the ugly American.

    • Detroiter327

      If we were looking at the economy on a purely x and y graph (where producers and consumers are infinite) then I would agree with you. The problem with Africa is that production is capped. They simply do not produce enough to feed or sustain the population. Thats why overpopulation is real. The area (or country or the world) cannot produce enough to sustain the population. Even if we were to both agree that abortion is a violent act, that is not the purpose of the Gates Foundations new initiative. You cannot say that taking birth control to prevent pregnancy by marital rape (or any other kind of rape) is a “violent” act. Food aid has also been witheld until poor countries denounce birth control, that is not right either. The Gates Foundation is helping supplement a demand for birth control. If we were to look at the amount of pregnancy related deaths in Tanzania, the amount from botched abortions is around 18%. There is a demand for birth control, and the consequence of not keeping up with it is a high rate of botched abortion deaths.

      • http://www.facebook.com/kuzmabiz Faith Irene

        Production is only one determinant of shortage and varies from country to country. There is a complex set of social, political, and economic factors in individual African countries. Melinda Gates could certainly address this issue directly with programs that teach and mobilize expertise in African countries. Such initiatives would directly tackle food shortage through technology innovations–such as nanotechnology. Birth control does not address the problem–people still experience food shortage and joblessness in this country, for instance, despite the availability of contraception. In a document declassified in 1990, the unethical efforts by the US, since 1974 when Henry Kissinger targeted 13 nations for withholding disaster and food aid as a means to achieve population control. Are you in favor of the likes of Henry Kissinger’s methods?

        • Detroiter327

          Obviously production isnt the only factor, but it is the dominating one. The documentary you directed me to, which I actually watched, is completely centered around production. Its central to the thesis. So lets look at Per Capita GDP. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html.
          Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, and look at the countries at the bottom of the list. These countries are simply just not producing enough for the population. The Gates Foundation is funding a variety of ways to combat these problems. Simply looking at their website will show you that they are also using technology to help agriculture in Africa, as you mentioned. Nobody ever said that birth control is a panacea for poverty, its pretty far from that actually. But the fact remains there is a huge demand for birth control, and that will help improve quality of life in many of these countries. I would also like to thank you for the Henry Kissinger link. Ive never really liked him because of his horrible intervention measures in South America, but I had never heard of that disgusting facet of it. I am obviously not in favor of that, nor am I in favor of withholding aid for purely religious reasons, as George Bush threatened to do.

          • http://www.facebook.com/kuzmabiz Faith Irene

            Cheap effective method of family planning with no moral objection, high continuation rate, and no side effects–this is proposed in a research-packed video that makes several points directly responding to Melinda Gates promotion of contraceptives:
            http://liveactionnews.org/opinion/healthcare-as-economic-justice-choice-versus-the-common-good/

          • http://www.facebook.com/kuzmabiz Faith Irene

            The link to the information-packed video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rOvo5HXe-c

          • http://www.facebook.com/kuzmabiz Faith Irene

            The funding that is morally objectionable (as well as other objections) is that going to contraceptives. I agree with you that providing contraceptives is not in any way a panacea; in fact, contraceptives cause more problems than they solve: failure rates, health risks such as increased risk of blood clotting and breast cancer chief among them. Money can be better spent helping developing nations learn to increase food production as well as providing basic medical care, while the need for family planning can be addressed in creative ways. This research-packed video suggests an alternative, natural family planning method with no health risks and high success rate 98 or 99% success rate among the target group. Cheap and effective, as well as a higher continuation rate than artificial forms of birth control but without violating religious beliefs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rOvo5HXe-c&feature=player_embedded

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michelle-M-Williams/1021964754 Michelle M. Williams

            NFP is not going to work in Africa where women can not say no to their partners. NFP requires a partner who is willing to cooperate and you are not going to get that.

          • http://www.facebook.com/kuzmabiz Faith Irene

            NFP can work where time and effort and support is in place (and thus could be expected to have greater success in Catholic countries). While there is quite a history regarding the issue, there has been success for abstinence in Uganda, and as the comment from a Ugandan who posted on it, abstinence works all the time. Contraceptives, on the other hand, have a fail rate. Intellectual honesty requires a recognition that contraceptives fail (in addition to encouraging out of wedlock sex because the risk of pregnancy is assumed to be removed). Besides, as a recent New Yorker article pointed out, artificial hormones used in contraceptives appear to have doubled HIV infections in Africa!
            http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/10/aids-and-contraception-bad-choices-in-africa.html So, again, contraceptives are problematic and not the cure-all elite Americans such as Melinda Gates promote them as.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michelle-M-Williams/1021964754 Michelle M. Williams

            I am sure you read that women are sometimes beaten for even suggesting wearing a condom. Periodic abstinence would be a much tougher sell. I don’t see where Melinda Gates is saying that contraceptives are a “cure all”.

          • Detroiter327

            You have missed the point of almost everything that was said. When there is a coerced pregnancy you cannot use NFP. If youd like me to get out more statistics on coerced pregnancies in Africa I would be happy to. Abstinence works all the time unless you are raped or if you would like to have a fulfilling sex life. Contraception, like any kind of preventive medical care, will of course have a failure rate. The failure rate when used correctly. however, is minuscule. As I have said on this website before if you have a problem with a failure rate around 1% when taken correctly and around 5% when taken incorrectly you should stop seeking any and all medical treatment. No pills are 100% guaranteed. The point is this is NOT OUR DECISION TO MAKE. Its the decision of these women. They will weigh the risks and rewards and make their own decisions. They should have the access to all family planning options the way the rest of the world does. If they want to choose NFP so be it. You said this is immoral. The moral beliefs of people halfway around the continent (because it really all comes down to a small group of people who believe medically unfounded evidence that this is an abortifacient and/or that contraception is immoral and against Gods plan) should have nothing to do with it.

          • http://www.facebook.com/kuzmabiz Faith Irene

            Cheap effective method of family planning with no moral objection, high continuation rate, and no side effects–this is proposed in a research-packed video that makes several points directly responding to Melinda Gates promotion of contraceptives:
            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rOvo5HXe-c

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michelle-M-Williams/1021964754 Michelle M. Williams

            Every medicine has side effects. Tylenol, Ibuprofen, allergy medication, chemotherapy, and HIV drugs all have extremely serious side effects. Would you not take them? Can you name me one type of surgery or one medication that is completely side effect free?

    • http://www.allourlives.org/ TooManyJens

      Do you believe that women in Africa (or anywhere else, for that matter), should be able to use contraception voluntarily if they choose to? If the answer is “yes,” I’m not sure what your issue with this program is. And if it’s “no,” I’m disgusted.

      And please don’t confuse contraception with abortion. This is a program to make contraception available. Gates is specifically and deliberately staying away from the abortion issue except to point out that expanded access to contraception will have the positive effect of reducing the rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion.

      • Kristiburtonbrown

        I completely believe that women everywhere should be able to use contraception voluntarily. The only problems are that 1) the problem is bigger than access to contraception and 2) women should be offered contraception that does not kill a baby who has already been created.

        • http://www.allourlives.org/ TooManyJens

          1) Nobody denies this.

          2) The evidence that DMPA prevents implantation is thin at best.

  • http://twitter.com/Chris_Halasz Christina Halasz

    Are you calling the people of Houston dense?

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  • http://twitter.com/carolinepilgrim caroline pilgrim

    I cannot deny that raising billions to “help the poor” is incredibly admirable. I’m certain that Melinda Gates and those who donate to her cause believe in it. I think they must be extremely naive and misled if they are not aware of the UNPF’s track record of failure. I would want to believe that women who do want bc would be able to get it, but many of these sub-saharan nations are unable to enforce justice to domestic violence abusers, family customs that harm women, and rampant poverty due to corruption. Additionally, it is no secret that African nations thrive off of foreign aid which all too often harms those it is supposed to help due to governmental greed and corruption.

    Read these to books to learn more about:
    1) UNFP’s track record http://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Misconception-Struggle-Control-Population/dp/0674034600/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342191349&sr=8-1&keywords=fatal+misconception
    2) A true need/solution for a women’s health crisis: fistulas due to early marriage (aka child-rape). http://www.amazon.com/Hospital-River-Story-Hope/dp/0825460719/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342191366&sr=1-1&keywords=hospital+by+the+river

    • http://twitter.com/Astraspider Astraspider

      Yeah. When I think of the Gates’s, the first thing I think if is “naive”. I tell ya, it took a lot of naivety to build a company that runs 90% of the world’s computers. They got *totally* misled into the $250 billion Microsoft is worth. You’re right, with that track record, who knows what else they’ve been misled into?

  • http://www.facebook.com/russell.c.crawford Russell C. Crawford

    There are natural laws that govern abortion. These laws make it clear that family planning leads to wanted and loved children and better lives for all humans. Those laws when violated lead to the death of born children. For example there are more people dying than can be saved. Most of the people in these third world countries need someone to “save” their lives by choosing to help them. Pro lifers have a choice, they can choose to save born people, or they can choose to save fetuses. If they choose to save fetuses the born people die. The pro lifers on this page choose to let born people die. That is reprehensible. http://www.naturalabortionlaw.com
    http://www.facebook.com/naturalabortionlaw

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