[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 4, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E149-E150]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RELEASE MONEY TO SAVE WOMEN'S LIVES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIZABETH FURSE

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 4, 1997

  Ms. FURSE. Mr. Speaker, a very important vote on family planning will 
occur this month.
  The fiscal year 1997 Foreign Operations appropriations bill directs 
the President to submit a Presidential Finding to Congress no later 
than February 1, detailing whether or not the spending restrictions 
imposed on family planning overseas are having a negative impact on the 
proper functioning of those programs.
  The Presidential Finding is to be included in a joint House-Senate 
resolution on which both bodies must vote by February 28. If both the 
House and Senate approve the finding, international family planning 
funds will be released on March 1 rather than the current July 1 
release date of funds that have already been appropriated.
  The President has submitted that finding and now we will have the 
opportunity to deliver the international family planning funding, which 
has been delayed already since October 1 of last year.
  I commend to my colleagues' attention the following column written by 
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in which she portrays the situation 
of real women's lives and the urgent need for family planning. It 
appeared in the current issue of Popline, a publication of the 
Population Institute on whose board of directors I serve.

                 Family Planning Is Reducing Abortions

                      (By Hillary Rodham Clinton)

       The pregnant woman wore an alpaca shawl over her blouse and 
     full skirt, the traditional Indian dress in Bolivia. She 
     looked about 36 and was attending a prenatal class at a 
     health clinic I visited this week in the Bolivian capital, La 
     Paz. She was nursing a 3-month-old baby and expecting her 
     eighth child, who she hoped would be her last.
       I was in Bolivia to attend the Sixth Conference of Wives of 
     Heads of State and Government of the Americas. Women from 
     countries throughout the Western Hemisphere got together to 
     talk about strategies to eliminate measles, promote education 
     reform and improve maternal health in our region.
       Bolivia, a country of majestic beauty in the heart of South 
     America, was an auspicious location for such a discussion. 
     More women die in Bolivia during pregnancy and childbirth 
     than in any other country in South America. But in the face 
     of this human tragedy, Bolivia has become a model of how one 
     nation can respond to the crisis of maternal mortality by 
     galvanizing the government, non-governmental organizations 
     and the medical establishment to launch a nationwide family 
     planning campaign.
       In a country where half of all expecting mothers go through 
     pregnancy and childbirth alone--without medical attention of 
     any kind--Bolivia's aggressive effort to educate women about 
     their own health and their options for childbearing is 
     resulting in safer pregnancies, stronger families and fewer 
     abortions. Without access to family planning, women in 
     Bolivia--and in many developing nations--often turn in 
     desperation to illegal, unsafe abortions that can end in 
     death or serious injury. Deaths from abortion complications 
     account for half of all maternal deaths in Bolivia.
       As Bolivia has ably demonstrated, voluntary family planning 
     teaches women about the benefits of spacing children several 
     years apart, breast-feeding, good nutrition, prenatal and 
     postpartum visits and safe deliveries. It also decreases the 
     number of abortions.
       Bolivia's success at preventing mothers from dying and 
     lowering abortion rates has been possible, in part, because 
     of help from the United States and other countries. The U.S. 
     Agency for International Development has provided financial 
     and technical assistance to help Bolivia establish a network 
     of primary health care clinics.
       The clinic I visited in La Paz is one that the United 
     States helped start. Called PROSALUD (which loosely 
     translated, means ``for the good of health'' in Spanish), the 
     clinic has doctors and nurses who offer round-the-clock 
     prenatal, obstetric and pediatric services, as well as 
     counseling about family planning in a poor neighborhood of 
     15,000 people. In the first six months of 1996, the clinic 
     staff provided 2,200 medical consultations, delivered 200 
     babies, registered 700 new family planning users and 
     immunized 2,500 children.
       There are obvious benefits of such a program to Bolivian 
     women, children and families, but health and family planning 
     services also help alleviate poverty and contribute to the 
     economic stability of a democratic ally in our hemisphere. 
     Yet opponents of foreign assistance and particularly of 
     family planning in Congress are trying to eviscerate U.S. 
     funding for programs like the one I saw

[[Page E150]]

     at PROSALUD. Some argue that the United States has no 
     national interest in the health and well-being of other 
     countries' citizens. Others mistakenly suggest that family 
     planning is being used to encourage--rather than decrease--
     abortions. In fact, our government has prohibited funding of 
     any overseas project that promotes abortion since 1973.
       Ignoring this, Congress last year approved draconian cuts 
     in family planning assistance amounting to a 35 percent 
     reduction in funds. To add insult to injury, the cuts were 
     accompanied by new restrictions that delayed delivery of aid 
     for the first nine months of the fiscal year.
       Similar harsh cuts and delays are included in the current 
     budget, meaning that many organizations could again be denied 
     assistance for months and then receive it only in monthly 
     installments.
       According to a recent analysis by five population 
     organizations, the funding cuts alone will result in an 
     increase of 1.6 million abortions, more than 8,000 maternal 
     deaths, and 134,000 infant deaths in developing countries.
       Family planning campaigns at work in Bolivia and elsewhere 
     represent sensible, cost-effective and long-term strategies 
     for improving women's health, strengthening families and 
     lowering the rate of abortion. My husband's administration 
     remains committed to the continuation of these investments. 
     And I will do everything I can to ensure that U.S. support 
     for these initiatives continues. If you share my concern, I 
     hope you will add your voice to mine and give all women 
     everywhere the same opportunities for their lives we take for 
     granted in ours. (Permission by Hillary Rodham Clinton and 
     Creators Syndicate.)

                          ____________________