Foreign affairs committee votes to prohibit U.S. funding to U.N. Population Fund

The Republican-led House Committee on Foreign Affairs voted Wednesday to approve a bill that would prohibit the U.S. government from providing funding to the U.N. Population Fund, an organization "that helps women and children in developing countries with reproductive health and family planning," Agence France-Presse reports (Cassata, 10/5). "House Republicans say they are pushing the legislation because the fund, known as the UNFPA, is complicit in China's controversial one-child policy, which enforces abortion and sterilization," the Huffington Post writes (10/5).

"Democrats countered that the organization shouldn't be penalized for China's laws, especially when it does honorable work in places such as Haiti, the Congo and countries hard hit by natural disasters and regional strife," AFP writes (10/5). According to the Huffington Post, "The UNFPA says it does not support abortion as a method of family planning" and "has no involvement with China's one-child efforts." The news service adds, "The bill is part of a larger effort among House Republicans to reduce U.S. funding for family planning, both domestically and abroad" (10/5).

For additional information on the status of the H.R. 2059 bill, visit the Kaiser Family Foundation's Budget Tracker and Policy Tracker, which provide the latest information on Congressional and Administrative action on global health.