HHS Withholds Funds for Global Health Meeting
By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 27, 2004; Page A03
After complaints from Republican congressional staff members and conservative groups such as the Traditional Values Coalition, Bush administration officials have decided to withhold money for an international health conference that opponents say promotes abortion.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Global Health Council over the past few years, backed off plans to contribute $170,000 for the June conference because it appeared the money could be used for lobbying, HHS spokesman Bill Pierce said.
Conservative activists, however, took credit last night for persuading the administration to abandon a conference the federal government has supported for 30 years....
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House Republican aides Sheila Maloney and John Cusey distributed an e-mail alert addressed to "Pro-life Groups" saying it was "outrageous" that taxpayer money would underwrite the event. In particular, Maloney, legislative assistant at the Republican Study Committee, warned that the conference included speakers from the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations Population Fund, groups that she said "perform abortions or help the communist Chinese force them on women."
Conference organizers said the three-day meeting will include a diverse mix of experts speaking on such topics as reproductive health, infectious diseases and emerging threats such as SARS, nutrition and disaster assistance. The theme of the conference is "Youth and Health: Generation on the Edge." Louis W. Sullivan, HHS secretary in the first Bush administration, is a member of the board of the council....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44652-2004Apr26.html