Population Action International Calls for More African Abortions/German Official Laments Social Problems Generated by Depopulation

By Austin Ruse | August 28, 1998

(NEW YORK – C-FAM) Long disappointed by the relatively high fertility rates in much of Africa, the population control establishment continues to call for more abortions of African children. A recent study by Washington-based Population Action International (PAI) claims that a population growth of 3% is one of the principal causes of poverty and disease in Africa.

Even though Africa has roughly the population density of the US state of Minnesota, PAI’s study, “Africa’s Population Challenge: Accelerating Progress in Reproductive Health” claims that population growth “is contributing to degradation of the environment and undermining prospects for prosperity.”

The PAI study calls for the sterilization of African women, the repeal of “outdated laws,” “ensuring that the legal system supports efforts to implement reproductive health programs,” and the dissemination of “reproductive health” information to adolescents. The official UN definition of “reproductive health” includes access to abortion.

PAI’s study complains that “current funding falls far short of the estimated $2 billion in the year 2000…needed to meet projected…reproductive health needs in the region.” It should be noted that the budget for malaria relief, considered by some experts to be Africa’s most serious problem, was a paltry $85 million for the entire world in 1996.

Population-control advocates face stiff domestic opposition in Africa. In fact, PAI explicitly names the Catholic Church in Africa as an obstacle. Moreover, traditional societal and religious practice vigorously approve of large families, which Africans view as a sign of wealth. PAI calls for eradicating these traditional notions.

Africa is a large continent whose countries generally have relatively low population densities, severely underdeveloped economies and rampant health problems. But the solution proposed by PAI– and other international organizations including UN agencies– is fewer Africans, not economic development.

 

German Official Laments Social Problems Generated by Depopulation

(NEW YORK – C-FAM) In a striking counterpoint to PAI’s promotion of population control as a panacea, a leading German official this month detailed the unhappy social consequences of his country’s rapid depopulation. In an official statement delivered in Lisbon to the First World Conference of Ministers.

Responsible for Youth, Dr. Reinhard Wabnitz of the German Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens and Youth noted that, “For the past quarter of a century, one-third less children are being born in Germany than would be necessary to keep the total population figure constant. Consequently, from the demographic perspective, Germany’s age pyramid is already, so to speak, upside down.”

This topsy-turvy demography is harmful, Dr. Wabnitz continued. “In the big cities, there are already districts where only a marginal number of children and families are to be found…Germany has therefore become a country whose society is no longer used to children and has, at any rate, ceased to be sufficiently child-oriented. Counteracting this trend is a task which we in Germany will have to work at for a long time to come.”

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