Lawmakers Discuss UNFPA In China At Hearing On Activist Chen Guangcheng
At a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Human Rights hearing "on blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng and his campaign against Chinese human-rights abuses," "Republican and Democratic lawmakers clashed Tuesday over the effects of" the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) on China's so-called "one-child policy," The Hill's "Global Affairs" blog reports. "Chen's escape from house arrest last month is drawing renewed attention to the [UNFPA], which a Republican-controlled House panel voted last week to defund in their annual spending bill for foreign aid," the blog writes. "Democrats say the U.N. Population Fund enables millions of women around the world to have access to contraception, prenatal care and screenings," the blog writes, adding, "The program, however, is controversial because it operates in China, whose single-child policy is seen as incompatible with U.S. notions of human rights" (Pecquet, 5/15).
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