Cutting off Family Planning Funds will Increase Immigration Pressure

Unfortunately, the current administration has cut off U.S. funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This political football has been tossed back and forth for decades, but, in spite of spurious charges from family planning opponents, a memorandum from the State Department acknowledged there was no evidence of U.N. support for coercion of any kind.

The removal of $32.5 million in funds from the 2017 budget will simply make it more difficult for the agency to fulfill its role of providing health care for women and infants, preventing maternal deaths and assisting families in planning their family size. This includes learning about the importance of spacing births which makes for healthier mothers and babies.

Additionally, according to the Guttmacher Institute, the UNFPAʼs work prevents more than 2 million abortions and 11,000 maternal deaths per year.

Moreover, the resultant increase in overpopulation in poor countries leads to increased pressure to immigrate to developed countries such as the U.S. Denying family planning services yields more overpopulation and stress on resources abroad and, ultimately, here in America.