Tax payers fund abortion

Briefing

From CFNews: n Parliament : 'David Amess (Southend West, Conservative) 'To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what payments his Department has made to (a) Marie Stopes International, (b) the International Planned Parenthood Federation, (c) the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, (d) the United Nations Population Fund and (e) the Family Planning Association (UK) for (i) abortion, (ii) family planning and (iii) other reproductive health services in the last year; what the total of grants made to each organisation in that year was; how much he plans to give to each in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for International Development; Bury South, Labour) 'Details of DFID's 2008-09 spending are not yet available but will be published in our 2009 annual report in July. DFID contributions to the listed organisations in the 2007-08 financial year are as follows;

* Marie Stopes International (MSI) (funding for three projects): £220,000

* International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF): £9.55 million (£7.5 million core contribution and £2,050 Safe Abortion Action Fund)

* United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA): £34.9 million (£20 million core contribution, £14.9 million in funding for projects at a country level)

* British Pregnancy Advisory Service: 0

* Family Planning Association: 0

'UNFPA has the global mandate to assist countries deliver better sexual and reproductive health and rights including voluntary family planning services, gender equality, and to better understand population dynamics including growth, ageing, fertility and mortality. Comprehensive family planning includes the provision of reproductive health services and the provision of services to prevent unsafe abortion. It is therefore not possible to disaggregate these figures.

'DFID will provide £8.6 million per annum to IPPF over the next three years. DFID will also provide up to £89.5 million in un-earmarked core funding to UNFPA between 2008 and 2011. We will also provide £100 million between 2008-09 to 2012-13 to support UNFPA's Global Programme for Reproductive Health Commodity Security (GPRHCS).

'It is not possible to provide similar figures for MSI. This is because DFID has a number of funding channels for country programmes including budgetary support for health systems, direct government budgetary support and multilateral funding which may have as a sub-component the provision of family planning commodities and services contracted to MSI'.