Thursday March 16, 2000
USAID SUPPORTING FORCED STERILIZATION IN PERU?
WASHINGTON, Mar 16 (LSN.ca) – On Tuesday, US Congressmen Todd Tiahrt and Chris Smith called for an investigation into allegations brought by the Population Research Institute (PRI) which has found evidence that the Peruvian government is using money from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for forced sterilization of women. Earlier evidence of such activity led to the passing of the Tiahrt Amendment on 25 October 1998, which ensures that US funds will only go to “voluntary” family planning programs.
However, during a December 1999 investigation, PRI obtained additional testimony from Peru about recent, ongoing abuses in Peru’s state-run family planning program. The Conservative News Service (CNS) reports that USAID continues to fund family planning projects overseen by the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MOH) and its associated, semi-official NGO, A.B. Prisma with $36 million a year.
PRI investigators produced testimonies of native women who described their tragic dealings with coerced sterilization and abortion. However, Steven W. Mosher, PRI president, said victims and Peruvian doctors who furnished investigators with evidences of abuses declined to testify in public for fear of reprisals by Peruvian authorities.
For more see the CNS coverage at:
https://www.conservativenews.org/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=Politicsarchive200003P…