an estimated 510,000 women lose their lives giving birth each year: roughly 251,000  in sub-saharan africa, 253,000 in asia,  22,000 in the caribbean and about 2,500 in all the first world countries.  maternal mortality rates rise in reverse proportion to the number of births attended by a midwife or caregiver.  in the us, europe and latin america, nearly all deliveries are assisted by a caregiver. in sub-saharan africa and asia, the percentage drops to about 58%.  

needless deaths are deplorable. needless deaths of young mothers devastate their surviving children, families and communities. worldwide, the communities least able to sustain the loss of any healthy young adults--especially parents--are those in aids-ravaged sub-saharan africa and asia. 

in at least 10% of maternal mortality cases, the newborn infant dies as well..

while there are not now nearly enough qualified birth assistors to prevent all these needless deaths, there is a simple, effective, inexpensive means of  significantly reducing them.  called a "safe motherhood kit", its intended to provide clean birthings. each kit consists of a sterile plastic sheet to provide a clean delivery area, a razor, soap, gauze,  a surgical blade to cut the umbilical cord, tape with which to tie off the umbilical cord and step-by-step illustrated instructions.

kits have been distributed to 140 countries through the united nations fund for population activities (unfpa).  there's no question as to their efficacy when it comes protecting the life of both baby and mother.  

the united states congress has allocated 34 million dollars to the unfpa each year for the past three years.  on july 16, 2004, secretary of state powell announced the administration was withholding these funds for the third year in a row.  the state department, powell said by way of explanation, is convinced the unfpa helps china manage its coercive 'one child' program which involves forced abortions. 

according to representative carolyn maloney  d-ny,  state department investigators concluded two years ago there was no evidence linking the fund to any coercive abortion programs in china.

a unfpa press release issued on july 16, 2004 also refutes powell's assertion.  the following is excerpted from that release. 

“The United States’ contribution could have saved thousands of lives,” said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA’s Executive Director.

"UNFPA has not, does not and will not ever condone or support coercive activities of any kind, anywhere," Ms. Obaid said.

An assessment team sent to China in 2002 by the U.S. State Department found no evidence that the Fund supported or participated in the management of a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization—on the contrary, it reported that UNFPA had registered its strong opposition to such practices. That team recommended that funds allocated by Congress be released to UNFPA. Three other independent teams, from the United Nations, the British Parliament and a multi-faith panel of religious leaders, reached the same conclusion.

The United States is the only country to deny funding to UNFPA for non-budgetary reasons."

so what's really going on?  

here's a clue:

in iraq and afghanistan, islamist theocrats demand implementation of their interpretation of the q'uran.  in the us, religious rightist  theocrats demand implementation of their interpretation of christianity. one such american ayatollah wannabe--rep chris h. smith r-nj--applauded the administration's decision, proclaiming, "President Bush has taken the side of the oppressed and refused to cooperate with the oppressor." 

that should come as no surprise since smith--as point man for the anti-abortion forces of the religious right--led the attack on unfpa funding. 

actions speak much louder and more effectively than words or slogans such as 'pro-life'.  based on last week's decision, one can only conclude smith, his colleagues and the president's commitment to life is being sublimated to their  belief in miracles--because barring a miracle, another 500,000+ women are going to die thanks to this decision.