Resolution Adopted
by the CCAR
DENOUNCING
PRESIDENT BUSH’S DECISION TO RENEGE ON CONGRESS’S SUPPORT OF THE
UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND
Adopted by the 114th Annual Convention
of the Central Conference
of American Rabbis
Omni Shoreham, Washington D.C.
March,
2003
Background
In
2002, the United States Congress appropriated $34 million to support
the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The funds from the UNFPA
were for contraception and sex education, for maternal health care and
AIDS education. This money was to have helped prevent 2 million
unwanted pregnancies, 800,000 abortions, 4,700 maternal deaths. This
past July, President Bush reneged on the US commitment. The United
States is the only country ever to deny funding to the UNFPA for non-
budgetary reasons.
Therefore, be
it resolved that the Central Conference of American Rabbis
publicly denounce President Bush’s
decision to renege on the $34 million already
appropriated by Congress to the United Nations
Population Fund;
proclaim its
support of the grassroots movement to raise sufficient funds to ensure
the continuance the UNFPA’s vital programs for reproductive health,
education, and health care;
encourage rabbis to address this issue in various venues, and
create and distribute
educational materials to raise awareness of the UNFPA’s important
work and the United States’ responsibility to support it.