UNITED STATES: Coverage on House Appropriations Committee Vote to Eliminate UNFPA Funding

CNN reported on 27 July that calling it "debilitating to my efforts to carry out a considered foreign policy and diplomacy," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is warning members of the House of Representatives that she "will recommend personally" that President Barack Obama veto a bill pending in the House that would severely restrict State Department operations, international organizations and foreign assistance. Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, calls the bill's ban on funding for the United Nations Population Fund and attempt to reinstate the so-called "global gag rule," as Lowey and other opponents of the Mexico City Policy call it, an example of "outrageous, divisive policies." Read: CNN

RH Reality Check published a blog by Tamara Kreinen of the UN Foundation on 27 July arguing “By voting to reduce funding for international reproductive health and family planning activities, eliminate funding for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and reinstate the Global Gag Rule, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programmes threatens to turn back the clock on women’s health and has taken its disturbing war on women to a global stage. Investing in international family planning maximizes the impact of our foreign aid dollars and is critical to the health of women and their families around the world. The subcommittee’s plan to reduce funding of international reproductive health activities would undermine our strategic international development goals and would be detrimental to the health of women and newborns. When women are healthy and empowered, they can spark a ripple effect in their families, communities, and nations that can lead to lower rates of poverty and stronger economic growth and productivity. With its short-sighted decision to cut UNFPA funding, the subcommittee is crippling its best ally in promoting healthier families, prosperous and stable societies, environmental sustainability, and resource and food security across the globe.” Read: RH Reality Check

The Hill reported on 26 July that the House Appropriations Committee released a 2012 spending bill that slashes State Department funding and foreign aid. The bill also prohibits funding for the U.N. Population Fund, as well as needle-exchange programmes. “It is unacceptable that the majority proposes to reinstate the Global Gag Rule, which prohibits recipients of U.S. health assistance from providing the most truthful and comprehensive healthcare possible to women in need,” subcommittee ranking member Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said in reaction. Read: The Hill