President's Report: Population Control In previous columns, I have written about the myth of overpopulation. President Bush’s recent decision to re-instate the Mexico City Policy which prohibits the use of federal money by organizations that perform or promote abortions has brought outbursts of rage and dire predictions from the population controllers around the world. Now from Zenit.org is information that puts the issue of population control in perspective. Even though we read reports that China has relaxed its one-child policy, Amnesty International reports that China continues to abuse individual liberty in enforcing family planning, including violence, torture, ill-treatment, forced abortions and sterilizations. As ugly and coercive as these programs are, there are long range problems that are not being addressed which will only get worse in the future. Because of a preference for boys, never married men 20 to 44 outnumber females in China by 2 to 1. Between 25 and 39, the number is 4 to 1. The shortage of brides has resulted in the trafficking of women. Women are being kidnapped from other countries and sold. The Los Angeles Times reported that in 1999, 6,800 women were reported missing. Experts report that the actual figure is closer to 7,600. The situation is expected to worsen because of the steep drop in the proportion of daughters since the one child policy was put into effect due to forced abortion, neglect and killing of girls. Pakistan has reported the growing use of amniocentesis and ultrasound to screen babies’ health during pregnancy allowing parents to learn the sex of their offspring. This has facilitated abortions and skewed the population of South Asia toward males. The feminist ideology is not without blame. The desire to limit population growth has been fueled by the belief that a women’s fertility is a threat to themselves and their self-realization. This radical ideology has become dominant in the media and the academy producing a determined group of social engineers. The United Nations is heavily influenced by the radical feminist ideology seeking to legalize abortion throughout the world. Groups like the International Planned Parenthood Federation work to overturn laws and undermine cultural beliefs in Third World countries which prohibit abortion. The goals of the population control movement are not set by families but by bureaucrats at the expense of education, nutrition and primary health care for the world’s children. The health needs of Third World nations are being ignored in favor of birth control. In Honduras, it was reported that there is a terrible shortage of basic medicines but cabinets full of condoms, pills and IUD’s. The sad story is that the U.S. Agency for International Development provides the money for population control programs and we all share in the shame.
|