Right: United States aid cartons: these boxes contain condoms for distribution with family planning advice from USAid stations in Third World countries.
Background information
AusAID Family Planning Guidelines have banned for the last thirteen years the funding of abortion services as part of foreign aid given to developing nations. The ban was imposed by the Howard Government in 1996. The full text of the AusAID Family Planning Guidelines can be found athttp://www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pdf/fam-plan-guide.pdf
The Guidelines conclude with the provision 'Australian aid funds are not available for activities that involve abortion training or services, or research trials or activities, which directly involve abortion drugs.' Australian spending on family planning in the foreign aid budget has dropped from $6.9 million in 1995-96 to only $2.3 million in 2006/07.
In May 2007, the Parliamentary Group on Population and Development, which has more than 50 members from all parties, formally recommended that the funding guidelines for AusAID be changed to allow the funding of abortion services in developing nations.
The report found that the restrictions denied women in developing countries the medical services available to Australian women, and were contributing to poor health and the cycle of poverty.
The Parliamentary Group on Population and Development was formed in 1995 to support and promote the Program of Action from the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo in 1994.
The Group is a voluntary, cross-party body. The Group has contributed to raising awareness in Australian parliaments about international population and development issues. The Group has hosted meetings and seminars with leaders in the field, including Dr Robert Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Dr Thoraya Obaid, Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and Dr Steve Sinding, Director-General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
The United States had adopted a similar policy of banning foreign aid to fund abortion programs. President Reagan instituted the rule, known as the 'Mexico City policy', in 1984, stating that the United States government would not contribute to groups that 'perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations'.
The result, critics said, was that nongovernmental organizations working in the developing world could not refer women to safe abortion providers or even conduct family planning education campaigns that discussed the procedure.
President Clinton rescinded the rule shortly after taking office in 1993. Eight years later, President Bush reinstituted it, saying that taxpayer funds should not be used to promote abortions.
On January 23, 2009, President Obama overturned the ban on United States support to international aid groups that provide abortion services around the world.