In July 2002, the Bush administration withdrew $34 million in promised funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) the world's largest international source of funding for population and reproductive health programs in developing countries. In addition to promoting reproductive health and family planning, the UNFPA helps to combat maternal deaths during pregnancy and childbirth from diseases that are virtually unknown in developed countries.
The Bush administration withdrew the aid because it claimed the Fund provides aid to Chinese government agencies that force women to have abortions – even though a U.S. State Department fact-finding mission disproved these allegations. Meanwhile, millions of women in the 142 countries that the UNFPA provides family planning and reproductive health services in continue to suffer and die.
