NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      NEW YORK (CWNews.com) - Pro-life groups on Tuesday demanded that the US delegation to the United Nations include definitions on family planning approved by the US Congress in a document on population control.

      The UN is finishing negotiations on implementation of the population agreement adopted at the 1994 Cairo conference and is expected to vote on it in a special General Assembly in June. Congress has decreed that no US funds may be spent on any government or organization that supports or runs "a population program that is not voluntary."

      US delegate Elizabeth Maguire said the demands are unnecessary because the "letter and spirit of the law" are already included. "There's very strong language in there on ensuring voluntary, free, and informed choices in a context of privacy, confidentiality and respect," she said. But, Robert Maginnis of the Family Research Council said including the exact congressional language into the UN proposal "would go beyond these existing restrictions to promote genuine national sovereignty on family planning policies."

      The coalition of pro-life groups said some nations are threatened with a cutoff of development aid if they don't accept population control programs, and some programs use coercion or deception to entice men and women into agreeing to sterilization.