Thai Conference Shows Abortion and Family Planning Intimately Connected

By | December 1, 2022

Dr. Atul Gwande of USAID

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 2 (C-Fam) The UN determined 25 years ago that abortion could not be included in family planning. Yet a UN and government sponsored family planning conference in Thailand last week placed abortion as an integral means of family planning.

Progressive sexual health and rights NGO’s met November 14-17 in Pattaya City, Thailand for the 2022 International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP). The bi-annual conference is the largest conference of its kind, boasting core sponsors including the Gates Foundation, the Canadian and British governments, and Planned Parenthood.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) served as organizers, placing these organizations in opposition to the UN’s directive to “eliminate the need for abortion…which in no case should be promoted as a method of family planning.”

Though bi-partisan U.S. support exists around contraception and the family planning movement, the family planning agenda remains directed by pro-abortion groups. Tax-payer dollars directed to USAID and UNFPA inevitably support abortion and gender ideology, even though there exists no consensus on these issues in the United States and United Nations.

Executive director of UNFPA Dr. Natalia Kanem, and USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Global Health Dr. Atul Gwande, both presided on panels with pro-abortion groups, most notably Ipas, an international organization determined to “build sustainable abortion ecosystems.”

USAID used to manufacture abortion devices until the Helms Amendment essentially outlawed the practice in 1973. The U.S. government then passed the patents along to Ipas that has been marketing them ever since.

In an opening plenary session, Ipas director Dr. Anu Kumar condemned the Helms amendment as a “colonial and racist policy…a demonstration of ideological domination,” and a principal cause of “unsafe abortions” around the world. Kumar placed the onus of abortion on the United States, claiming it’s legal opposition to foreign funding was one of the greatest impediments to their efforts. Seated next to her, Gwande responded on behalf of USAID said , “…thank you. Keep pushing us, keep pushing the country [to repeal Helms].” In another speech, Gwande affirmed that USAID remains the largest bilateral donor of family planning assistance, and would continue to be, “no matter what party is in power” in the White House.

UNFPA’s Dr. Kanem said, “Changing human relations and changing patriarchy is part of the task that’s in front of us,” including Ipas as a central actor. She also announced the launch of the new UNFPA Strategy for Family Planning, which claims “transgender men and non-binary people can and do become pregnant,” and calls for an increase in “safe” abortions, citing the WHO which categorizes abortion as a “self-care.”

Despite Ipas’s claims that pro-life laws are colonialist, it remains clear that progressive western governments and organizations place global pressures on all other nations to adopt pro-abortion and gender laws. Many US politicians and countries in the UN continue to oppose this agenda, but as long as funds remain for these groups, abortion will continue to be imposed on the developing world under the guise of family planning.

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