CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Although Melinda Gates' recent announcement that her charitable group will axe abortion funding has drawn praise, concern remains over money being funneled into projects that undermine human dignity.<\/p>\n\tIn a June 2 blog post, Melinda, wife of billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, announced that she and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation \u201chas decided not to fund abortion,\u201d citing concerns that the contention around the issue hinders global human development.<\/p>\n
\tThe move has been lauded by numerous pro-life outlets and advocates, including Leah Bromberg, communications director for World Youth Alliance.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAbortion is a procedure that not only compromises both the dignity and the development of the unborn but also raises a host of problems for women,\u201d she told CNA June 17.<\/p>\n
\tShe agreed with Gates' concern that including abortion in human development plans \u201cslows \u2018progress for tens of millions of women,\u2019\u201d adding that there are a number of \u201cunder-funded solutions and methods that are far better in meeting the needs of women.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAbortion, Bromberg affirmed, \u201cis a selective procedure that should not be conflated with women\u2019s reproductive health, and so we applaud Melinda Gates\u2019 decision to separate the two terms through her Foundation\u2019s decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tTogether with her husband, Gates formed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the world. Since its 1997 formation, the organization has focused on human development, including agricultural progress, education advancement and the eradication of polio and malaria around the globe.<\/p>\n
\tHowever, as part of its reproductive health initiatives, the foundation has provided $71 million to the International Planned Parenthood Federation and other Planned Parenthood affiliates up to 2013.<\/p>\n
\tGates stated in her blog post that while abortion would not be funded, the foundation would shift its focus to other forms of health care for women and children, including \u201cproviding the contraceptives that they want,\u201d as well as prenatal care and care for newborns and infants.<\/p>\n
\tAustin Ruse, President of C-FAM, a Catholic Human Rights and international watchdog organization, told CNA June 16 that \u201cthere may be nothing new here,\u201d explaining that he was not aware that the Gates Foundation had ever been involved in the direct funding of abortion.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cHowever, they are involved in the spread of UN-style family planning which includes abortifacients,\u201d or drugs that cause abortions, he said.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cMoreover, as long as the Gates foundation is involved with international Planned Parenthood Federation as an integral partner in their work then they are clearly involved abortion,\u201d Ruse added.<\/p>\n
\tDespite these unanswered questions, Ruse applauded Gates\u2019 decision to distance herself \u201cfrom the nasty business of abortion,\u201d saying her decision \u201chows how far the country has come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tGabrielle Jastrebski,\u00a0 Program Manager of FEMM \u2013 a reproductive health non-profit that focuses on fertility awareness education by working along with natural cycles rather than suppressing them \u2013 voiced concern that despite Gates\u2019 promises, the organization may still end up supporting abortion.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe scope of this promise in regards to the full spectrum of abortifacients remains to be seen,\u201d she told CNA June 17.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAlso,\u201d Jastrebski added, \u201cit remains to be seen if the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will fund abortions indirectly through the funding of various organizations that provide or promote abortions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tJastrebski also noted that the conflation of contraception and abortion with human development works against \u201cthe development of the person, which requires providing women with access to basic healthcare needs,\u201d\u00a0 a robust understanding of their own bodies and social needs such as \u201cmaternal and paternal employment leave, proper education, and more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tShe warned that the Foundation\u2019s new position \u201c is, in fact, undermined by Gates\u2019 insistence on contraceptive access in their development funding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBy relying on contraception instead of addressing a full dance of social and health concerns, the Gates\u2019 current approach leaves abortion as a so-called \u201cneed\u201d when \u201c communities and societies aren\u2019t conducive to proper protection and upbringing of children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAuthentic human development builds both the external support and provides women with the education necessary to prevent harming their bodies by means of contraceptives, and by learning how to observe and respect their own bodies and their signs of health and fertility,\u201d Jastrebski said.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe impact of this decision is impossible to determine,\u201d she continued, adding that Gates\u2019 decision may or may not \u201cpromote the authentic development of the whole person.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBromberg weighed in that she supported the organization's rejection of abortion and focusing of funding on \u201careas that have a 'broad consensus,'\u201d stating that abortion \u201cis an inadequate form of reproductive health care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cA healthy pregnancy is not a disease; in fact it signals that the systems in a woman\u2019s body are working well,\u201d she said. \u201cAbortion is not a medicine or a treatment for disease.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAttempting to address multi-faceted global women's issues by simply providing women with access to abortion, is not only a narrow vision of the person, it\u2019s a flawed understanding of global health,\u201d Bromberg said.<\/p>\n
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Washington D.C., Jun 17, 2014 \/ 05:20 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Although Melinda Gates' recent announcement that her charitable group will axe abortion funding has drawn praise, concern remains over money being funneled into projects that undermine huma…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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