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BY LifeSiteNews.com Last Updated: June 07, 2010April 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - For several months LifeSiteNews (LSN) has been collecting evidence that the official development arm of the Canadian bishops, Development and Peace (D&P), is funding numerous radical leftist organizations that promote a pro-abortion and pro-contraception ideology. Thus far LSN has collected evidence about pro-abortion and pro-contraception D&P partners in East Timor, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Togo, South Africa, Benin, Brazil, Mexico, Haiti, Peru and Guinea. LSN reporters are currently working on reports about D&P partners in other parts of the world as well. We have additionally followed up on leads from John Pacheco who operates the blog SoCon Or Bust and a report on Bolivia from The National Catholic Register. An experienced Latin American researcher from Costa Rica has also been assisting LifeSiteNews with analysis of all the Latin American groups funded by D&P that we have not yet investigated or reported on.However, for the first time LSN here presents, in a single, easy-to-read document, all of the evidence gathered so far about the troubling activities of many of D&P's partners. The disturbing picture that emerges is that of a Catholic development organization that is using funds collected from ordinary Catholics to fund leftist pro-abortion and pro-contraception organizations on a wide scale. BENIN1. Association des femmes jurists du Bénin (AFJB) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032613.html) Co-authored with the radically pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights a 1999 report on the state of "reproductive rights" in Benin. The report laments that "fertility in Benin is characterized by a low rate of contraceptive prevalence (16.8%)" and "induced illegal and clandestine abortions." The report then speaks approvingly of various initiatives that the Benin government has undertaken to improve access to contraception. However, the report continues, "In spite of these initiatives, adolescent girls do not have adequate access to the family planning services offered." The report also addresses Benin's abortion laws, which forbid abortion except to save the life of the mother. While the report stops short of explicitly advocating the legalization of abortion, it laments that, because abortion is illegal, "In the majority of cases, abortions are practiced clandestinely, under deplorable conditions that disregard women's health." BRAZIL2. Rural Women's Movement (Movimento de Mulheres Camponesas) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032705.html)Openly opposes efforts to enforce Brazil's laws against abortion, and suggests that abortion is a "right."  Issued an open letter to protest the creation of a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) in the Brazilian Congress to investigate clandestine abortions in Brazil. "The creation of a CPI to investigate abortion practices, by those who should guarantee rights and justice in Brazil (a majority of whom are men), deserves our repudiation and our indignation," the organization proclaimed. 3. Federation of Organs for Social and Educational Assistance (Federação de Órgãos para Assistência Social e Educacional, or FASE) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032705.html)FASE endorsed a joint statement demanding the legalization of abortion in Brazil, which claims that "the Brazilian government has the obligation and responsibility to guarantee to women who need to have recourse to abortion that they can do so in conditions that are necessary for the preservation of their health and their life."  Promotes the pro-abortion National Feminist Network for Health, Sexual Rights, and Reproductive Rights, which provides women with information on where they can obtain abortions without prosecution, and advocates the increased availability of abortion in Brazil.  Displays on its website the National Feminist Network's pro-abortion "Report on the Participation of the Feminist Network for Health in the Social World Forum—2009" in which the Network discusses its contribution to the theme, "The Illegality of Abortion Threatens the Lives of Women" EAST TIMOR4. Fokupers (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040708.html) Fokupers is currently lobbying the East Timorese government to legalize abortion in the strongly Catholic country. Maria Barreto, program manager for advocacy at Fokupers, told the UN's news agency, IRIN News, last month that, "Abortion is one of the options that is appropriate when the mothers are victims of sexual violence. We are working to protect women. We should understand that we should give options to mothers based on their circumstances." A representative of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) confirmed in early April with CRS's contact on the ground in East Timor that Fokupers is helping spearhead the lobbying effort to legalize abortion in East Timor, and that the East Timor bishops have strongly denounced the pro-abortion effort. 5. REDE FETO (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09061003.html)In 2005 REDE FETO, along with the Alola Foundation, issued a list of recommendations, including the recommendation to legalize abortion in cases of rape, incest, or risk to the health of the mother. REDE FETO is cited by the UN committee responsible for the implementation of CEDAW as one of the groups (along with the Alola Foundation) that has been working towards legalizing abortion in East Timor, despite the virulent opposition of the Catholic Church.GUINEA 6. Coalition Nationale des Femmes - Droits et Citoyenneté (CONAG - DCF) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032613.html)Last year signed on to a petition denouncing the decision of Uruguayan President Tabaré Vazquez to veto a pro-abortion bill that had been passed. The bill would have legalized abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The petition said that "it is offensive that a single person can revoke the decision and vote of the majority, and alone determine the alternatives to unwanted pregnancy, a decision each woman ought to be able to take autonomously." It concluded: "We hope the democratic system returns the rights your veto has violated to all Uruguayans." HAITI7. Kay Fanm (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09033008.html)Proclaims its support for abortion on its webpage entitled, "The State of Things: Women and Health in Haiti." Kay Fanm complains that there is a "lack of access to information and training relative to reproductive rights" including "a very limited recognition of reproductive rights regarding the voluntary interruption of pregnancy (IVG). Given that abortion is illegal in Haiti, women and young girls facing undesired pregnancies sometimes have recourse to clandestine abortions practiced in dubious conditions." Kay Fanm also laments "a weak rate of contraceptive utilization," and goes on to complain that the government isn't distributing the "female condom." On another Kay Fanm page, the organization clearly proclaims its support for the "depenalizaton of abortion" in conjunction with Fanm Deside, another D&P grant recipient 8. Fanm Deside (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09033008.html)Fanm Deside offers a PowerPoint presentation on its website explaining the activities of the group, which include "organizing days of reflection and sensitization on the advancement of the state of women," including one scheduled for September 17 on the "depenalization of abortion." On the website of D&P partner Kay Famn, Fanm Deside proclaims its support for the "depenalization of abortion," along with Kay Fanm. MEXICO9. Comaletzin Rural Feminist Interregional Coordinator (La Coordinadora Interregional Feminista Rural Comaletzin, or simply "Comaletzin") (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09042204.html)Comaletzin's General Coordinator, Ofelia Pastrana Moreno, told LifeSiteNews in a telephone interview that the organization promotes the use of artificial birth control and "sexual and reproductive health" services. If contraceptives fail, said Pastrana, Comaletzin seeks to make abortion available to women who don't want what she called the "product" of conception, meaning the unborn child. Pastrana told LifeSiteNews (LSN) that her organization had applied for permission for an abortion for a girl with Down syndrome, in accordance with state laws that do not penalize abortions in cases of rape. Comaletzin campaigned last month in the state capital to prevent the passage of a pro-life amendment to the constitution of Puebla, which would protect the right to life from the moment of conception. Participated in demonstrations against a pro-life amendment to the constitution of the state of Morelos in 2008, according to the Union, a Morelos newspaper. Signed a declaration against an attempt to reform the state's criminal code to remove exceptions in the penalization of abortion. Comaletzin is one of the signatories to petition which demands that the Vatican's diplomatic status at the United Nations be revoked. 10. All Rights for Everyone Network (Todos los Derechos Para Todos y Todas or TDT) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032313.html) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/oct/09100905.html)In an interview with LifeSiteNews, the Network's Executive Secretary Edgar Cortes admitted that the Network favors the availability of abortion with "appropriate" health conditions. Maintains a document on its website detailing the "agenda" of the organization, which includes "putting into effect the right on women who are impregnated as a consequence of rape to interrupt their pregnancy." In a statement released April 24, 2008 in the name of its 58 members, the network said that, "The law that permits the legal interruption of pregnancy in the Federal District [Mexico City] represents an advance for the human rights of women." Reported that it had submitted a request to the federal government, on July 17 2009, to denounce the state of Guanajuato for failing to provide abortion services, and for the injustice towards victims of sexual violence Follows the international pro-abortion movement's approach of claiming that the absence of criminal penalties makes the practice "legal." One of TDT's member groups is "Catholics for the Right to Decide" (Católicos por el Derecho a Decidir), an organization falsely claiming to be Catholic that promotes the legalization of abortion throughout Latin America. 11. Centro de Apoyo para el Moviemento Popular de Occidente - CAMPO (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040611.html) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09041701.html) Recently signed a document denouncing a constitutional amendment passed in the state of Jalisco protecting the right to life "from the moment of conception to natural death." The document claims that prohibiting abortion is a form of "torture" and is "cruel and unusual punishment." A CAMPO official acknowledged in an interview with LifeSiteNews that the organization signed the document and confirmed that her organization agrees with the protest, explaining that their position on the issue is "a general posture of human rights and the right to decide." 12. Miguel Augustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031210.html) Signed a public declaration denouncing a proposed amendment to the constitution of the state of Jalisco, which would protect the right to life from conception to natural death. The amendment, said the group, "would eliminate the right of the women of Jalisco to interrupt a pregnancy." Signatory to the "Report of Organizations of Civil Society on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights in Mexico," which openly advocates, in part, legalization of abortion on demand throughout the country, with 67 mostly positive references to the practice or its legalization Signatory to the "Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Mexico Elaborated by Organizations of Civil Society for Periodical Universal Examination," which also advocates abortion on demand throughout Mexico In 2011, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa was forced to cancel a speaking engagement with Fr. Luis Arriaga, the head of the Miguel Pro Center, after it was revealed that his organization has supported the stridently pro-abortion Catholics for the Right to Decide. Archbishop Prendergast also reportedly asked Fr. Arriaga to sign a statement expressing support for the right to life of the unborn, which he refused to do.13. Mexican Network for Action Regarding Free Trade (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031210.html)Signatory to the previously mentioned pro-abortion "Report of Organizations of Civil Society on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights in Mexico." 14. Center for Economic and Political Research for Community Action (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031210.html)Signatory to the pro-abortion "Report of Organizations of Civil Society on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights in Mexico" 15. National Center for Social Communication (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031210.html)Signatory to the pro-abortion "Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Mexico Elaborated by Organizations of Civil Society for Periodical Universal Examination." Acts as a mouthpiece for pro-abortion groups such as "Catholics for the Right to Decide," distributing its press releases.NICARAGUA 16. March 8th Women's Collective (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09042403.html) Vistor to organization photographed a massive banner in the office of the group, reading: "VIOLENCE IS: Requiring a girl to carry a pregnancy. We demand the return of therapeutic abortion." Another photograph showed two doors in the office with stickers reading: "I support abortion." 8 de Marzo signed a letter congratulating Barack Obama for approving US overseas funding for pro-abortion groups. A representative of the group, who identified herself only as "Carla," confirmed to LSN in a telephone interview that the organization supports the legalization of abortion on demand and has been involved in the struggle against Nicaragua's pro-life penal code. "In 2006 you were very involved in the struggle to preserve the legal right to perform an abortion," LSN mentioned, at which point Carla interrupted to say, "therapeutic abortion," and added, "yes, and it was stolen here." At another point in the interview, LSN asked, "The March 8th Women's Collective, you would like to make abortion available for any woman who would like to choose an abortion, right?" "Claro," responded Carla in Spanish, meaning "of course," or "clearly."NIGERIA 17. Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre" (WARDC) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032613.html) Last year WARDC teamed up with the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), one of the world's most prominent and radical pro-abortion organizations, to co-author a heavily pro-abortion and pro-contraception report on the state of "reproductive rights" in Nigeria. In the recommendations at the conclusion of the report WARDC urges the government "to guarantee access to safe abortion services within the existing law," and to "take measures to make certain that medical professionals who provide or advocate for safe abortion are not harassed or unjustly targeted for criminal prosecutions." In the report WARDC also explicitly and repeatedly calls upon the government of Nigeria to improve "access to family planning services, including a full range of contraceptive methods." 18. Youth Adolescent Reflection and Action Centre (YARAC) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09052106.html)   YARAC's stated mission is to "empower young people through information sharing and transformative education about their reproductive rights and civic responsibilities." YARAC describes  their methods of reproductive education in a document on their website entitled 'The Learning Process': "Whatever Health education activities you do, well chosen and properly used materials can help you do it better. ... If you are teaching people how to use a condom, they will learn better by touching real condoms and practicing putting them on a model, such as a bottle." In a document entitled 'Implementation of Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) in Junior Public Secondary Schools in Plateau State,' YARAC includes amongst their objectives to "increase information about contraceptive use." In their document on 'Implementation of Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) in Junior Public Secondary Schools in Plateau State', YARAC lists the objectives of their FLHE project, which included to: ... Increase knowledge based of young people by 90% on contraceptive use, transmission of sexually related diseases. Despite the fact that YARAC is very clear about their emphasis on reproductive rights, in their description of the organization's activities, D&P does not mention that emphasis. PERU 19. Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo - CLOC (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09041515.html)Displays a "Manifesto of Women's Organizations for the Eighth of March," which was signed by CLOC itself, on its website. The statement "demands" that governments carry out "the urgent depenalization of abortion in the penal code, at least in the exceptional circumstances put forth in the proposal of the women's movement: abortion in cases of rape, incest, and risk to the life of the woman." The statement also denounces the "permanent intervention of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in government affairs," which it says "influences and pressures in a pernicious manner the acts of formulation of public policies and laws that affect the life of women in the country, the equality, and empowerment of the same."  It then "demands" the "separation of public management from the influence of church power." In another statement displayed by CLOC and attributed to the "Via Campesina" (a group associated with CLOC in the previously quoted statement), the organization claims that "patriarchal capitalism" causes "violence resulting from the fact that women cannot make decisions about their own bodies.  Men, the government, religion, the family, and many social attitudes impose guidelines of obedience and behavior in women, preventing them from making their own decisions.  For example, the right to an abortion is not guaranteed in many countries…" 20. Coordinadora Nacional de Radio (CNR)Cited by the Peruvian bishops in a letter to the Canadian bishops as one of three D&P parnters that "either explicitly endorses abortion, and/or contraception, either by name or by its various euphemisms like ‘sexual and reproductive rights’ or some derivation thereof."21. Groupe Resaue d'economie solidaire au Perou (GRESP)Cited by the Peruvian bishops in a letter to the Canadian bishops as one of three D&P parnters that "either explicitly endorses abortion, and/or contraception, either by name or by its various euphemisms like ‘sexual and reproductive rights’ or some derivation thereof."22. Federacion de las mujeres organizadas en centrales de cocinas populares (FEMOCCPALC)Cited by the Peruvian bishops in a letter to the Canadian bishops as one of three D&P parnters that "either explicitly endorses abortion, and/or contraception, either by name or by its various euphemisms like ‘sexual and reproductive rights’ or some derivation thereof."PHILIPPINES23. The Freedom From Debt Coalition (FDC) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/oct/09102014.html)Involved in a major effort to pressure Filipino legislators to pass the very controversial Congressional House Bill 5043, the Reproductive Health Bill. The bill, which has an explicit population control emphasis, proposes a massive promotion of contraception and sterilization throughout the country, mandatory sex education for Filipino children starting at grade 5 and a removal of the right to conscientious objection, with some exceptions for religious reasons, for health care workers who refuse to provide these services. Dr. Walden Bello, FGS's founding director and current senior analyst, and president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition, accuses the Filipino bishops of conducting a "massive campaign" of "systematic disinformation about the bill," and says the bishops did not want a debate on the bill because "rational, enlightened exchange would have revealed the aims of the bill to be not only morally legitimate but ethically imperative."SOUTH AFRICA24. Industrial Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10031601.html)(http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/apr/10040714.html) The director of ILRIG, Leonard Gentle, told LSN in an interview that the work of his organization includes offering support to the "abortion rights" movement. ILRIG’s Anna Davies-van Es, coordinator of the group’s Building Women's Activism project, stated in an email to LSN, "ILRIG has a clear position that women have the right to make decisions over their own bodies ... and this is something that we take on in our various educational and research processes with both women activist groups as well as mixed groups." In response to LSN's article, Leonard Gentle wrote back to LSN, confirming the allegations: "So there are community-based organisations in South Africa who seek to ensure that women know their rights and have access to their rights. These are the organizations of the Reproductive Rights Alliance. ILRIG provides our usual support work – in the form of research and educational resources - for these organisations as well, and will continue to do so." THAILAND25. Focus on the Global South (FGS) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/may/10050708.html)Co-signatory of a March 2010 statement, posted to its website, for a woman's march on the International Day of Women, which states: "We are daughters, sisters, mothers, marching to assert our rights over our bodies and claim our entitlement to public and reproductive services, in the face of greater impositions from the church, religious fundamentalisms and even the state, which choose to decide for us, and even worse, decide to deny us the right to choose." Dr. Walden Bello, FGS's founding director and current senior analyst, and also the president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition,  accuses the Filipino bishops of conducting a "massive campaign" of "systematic disinformation about the bill," and says the bishops did not want a debate on the bill because "rational, enlightened exchange would have revealed the aims of the bill to be not only morally legitimate but ethically imperative."TOGO26. "Forces en action pour le mieux-être de la mère et de l'enfant" (FAMME) (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032613.html)FAMME runs a program in which it obtains and distributes large quantities of condoms, primarily to prostitutes.  In a 2007 news article by Agence de Presse Africaine (APA), FAMME executive director Dometo Sodji explained that thanks to FAMME and other NGOs, 1.4 million male condoms and 300,000 female condoms were distributed in Togo in 2006. In a 2003 report by Human Rights Watch, FAMME was described as "an outreach organization that specializes in women's health and condom distribution." Contact Information:Contact information for every Canadian bishop http://www.cccb.ca/site/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,...Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops 2500 Don Reid Drive Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1H 2J2 E-mail: cecc@cccb.caPhone: (613) 241-9461 Fax: (613) 241-9048 http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/must-read-all-lsn-evidence-of-development-and-peace-pro-abortion-funding-so/

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