Date published: 3/21/2003

FRONT ROYAL--Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis (R-1st) was present when the Population Research Institute presented evidence on forced abortions and sterilizations in China to the House International Relations Committee. She listened as we told of how women are brutally persecuted by communist officials if they refuse to submit to a coerced abortion.

In September 2001, PRI investigators interviewed abuse victims in a "model" county program of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Sihui, Southern China. Interviews were recorded.

Victims said that if they refuse a coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization, officials destroy their homes and throw them into prison. We interviewed a victim who escaped forced abortion by hiding in a nearby village. As punishment, nine of her relatives were thrown into prison. Government officials destroyed their homes and belongings with jackhammers.

Our evidence was corroborated by a State Department team that traveled to China in May 2002 to investigate UNFPA's support of forced abortion. Since 1998, UNFPA has been operating in 32 so-called "model county" programs in China. UNFPA claims that coercion has ended in these counties. But the U.S. delegation found that these 32 counties "retain coercive elements in law and practice."

In one UNFPA model county, a county magistrate told State Department investigators that fines for illegal births are as high as 8,000 yuan--as much as ten times a victim's annual salary. The State Department rightly concluded that these fines are levied to coerce women to undergo abortions.

In county after county, the State Department found that UNFPA supports coercive abortion in China with financial, technical and medical support.

On July 21, Secretary of State Colin Powell notified Congress that the "UNFPA's support of, and involvement in, China's population planning activities allows the Chinese government to implement more effectively its program of coercive abortion."

In light of U.S. law, Secretary Powell concluded that UNFPA's support of China's coercive population program precludes it from receiving $34 million in U.S. funding.

Date published: 3/21/2003