IPPF Head Urges Nordic Countries to Attack US and Catholic Church

By C-FAM Staff | 2003

     (NEW YORK – C-FAM) Citing a grave "moment of peril" posed by the United States and the Catholic Church, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Director-General Steven Sinding told a recent meeting of northern European government leaders that they must redouble their efforts to promote population control, the provision of reproductive services to children, and the worldwide legalization of abortion.

     Speaking at the Nordic Meeting on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Sinding claimed that "This is perhaps the most challenging time since the modern 'population movement' began in the 1960s with respect to reproductive health and rights." Sinding blamed this situation on "The conservative backlash.one cannot ignore the assault on the Cairo Programme of Action mounted by the United States of America and its allies in the Vatican and a small handful of other countries with fundamentalist governments. These people believe that the Cairo Programme of Action is a radical feminist agenda and that it represents an assault on traditional family values and sexual mores."

     According to Sinding, a number of other factors have contributed to this situation. For instance, Sinding mentioned "The perception that the 'population crisis' is over. The demographic fear that drove funding from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s is to all extents and purposes gone." Without this demographic fear, Sinding worries that talk about reproductive rights is not "compelling" enough. Sinding also claimed that HIV/AIDS was siphoning attention away from reproductive services, and that governments possess too much authority in establishing their own nations' health needs, stating that "When primary responsibility is given over to host governments to define health priorities.services .at the centre of the SRHR [Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights] agenda often fall to so low a slot in the health agenda that they receive little or no funding at all."

     Sinding urged Nordic government officials to respond with vigor to these challenges. He told his audience to "Engage the US and other critics.head on. It is essential to show the absurdity of their 'abstinence only' and anti-condom crusades. We must discredit their pseudo-science and unmask their ideological motives." However, it now appears open to debate what parties are truly motivated by ideology. According to the UN Population Division, massive efforts by IPPF and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to promote condom use in Africa have failed, and according to a study published by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the only successful AIDS-prevention program in Africa is in Uganda, where abstinence and fidelity have been heavily promoted for over a decade.

     Sinding also urged his audience to continue to push for population control, and to fight for reproductive services, especially for youth, even if it means going against the wishes of governments in the developing world, stating that "Africa simply cannot wait for good governance." And Sinding's "final priority" is the spread of abortion, "making abortion safe." According t Sinding, "There are still far too many unwanted pregnancies."

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