Papua New Guinea is a deeply Christian country — as the prime minister’s Easter message beautifully and unashamedly conveys.
This week, Christian leaders — clearly respected in Papua New Guinea — issued a warning of “outside” forces seeking to push abortion in their country.
It comes on the heels of a UN meeting where Papua New Guinea’s ambassador pushed abortion and sexual rights. The annual meeting of the UN Commission on Population and Development is easily overlooked by small governments that cannot keep track of what their delegations at the UN are doing.
But the ambassador’s position was so odd that I contacted newspapers in Papua New Guinea to find out if they were aware that their government was promoting abortion and sexual rights.
A few weeks later the Catholic bishops released an open letter to their political leaders, stating in part:
Today we face new and dangerous trends we feel compelled to speak about. Traditionally Papua New Guineans have always been open to new life, to children born to their families. Abortion, which the majority of our citizens find abhorrent, remains illegal in Papua New Guinea. However, political leaders face great pressures from within and outside of PNG to take another view. Will the PNG Government one day decide that killing the unborn child is a good thing for PNG, something that will bring the blessing of God upon our people? We pray that our leaders will never bow to this temptation for political and economic gain.
This brings us to another concern of the Catholic Church, the growing political ideology that links development with population control. The thinking of many politicians these days aims them in this direction. Why is it, they wonder, that education and health services are rapidly worsening in Papua New Guinea, and what can be done about it? And look at all the unemployed and frustrated young people who gather on the streets of our towns and cities every day looking for opportunity where there is none. This is becoming a dangerous situation. What can we do?
Unfortunately, instead of looking creatively for positive solutions, government seems to have settled on a strategy that does not address the underlying causes of our decline. Many politicians think that population growth, too many people, is the culprit. Put the brakes on having babies and everything will be okay again, they say. Thus the door is opened for such organizations as Marie Stopes to come in and temporarily “sterilize” great numbers of women as a way to slow the growth of population. Hormonal implants are promoted and injected on a massive scale with little thought about the physical, emotional and social effects on young girls and women and on the community as a whole.
Have you, our political leaders, really thought this through? Do you know what the people of your electorates might think about this strategy? Do you worry about what could be the consequences of tampering with nature in this way? Do you really believe that population control, seemingly an easy-fix, will actually work, will solve the serious problems we continue to face? Such a young, proud and energetic independent nation, and now some want to take aim at fertility as the solution to our troubles?
We are all fond of speaking about the great riches of our country, of our culturally diverse population and its energy. We rejoice in the great wealth contained in the abundance of the natural resources God has put here in our care. Perhaps a much better plan would be to link these two things, our wealth and the natural growth of a vibrant population, as we seek to find the secret to becoming a successful nation with prosperity, peace and justice for all.
They have reason to worry. The UN Population Fund and Planned Parenthood initiated a scheme targeting Papua New Guinea and other Pacific Islands to impose abortion and sexual rights.
The UN Population Fund (responsible for crafting China’s one-child policy) and Planned Parenthood held a meeting in SE Asia with a hodge-podge of people holding government jobs in Pacific islands (they were not representing their governments).
They signed the Moana Declaration, a statement clearly written by radical abortion/sexual rights advocates.
Here is a UNFPA article lauding the Moana Declaration. Note that it admits it is not an agreement by governments, but a commitment by individuals:
“Participants also agreed to institutionalize mechanisms through which support whether technical, advocacy or otherwise, could be generated by a political leader wishing to advance issues related to the ICPD or sexual and reproductive health and rights.”
Random officials signed this declaration. They were urged to get onto their government delegations (and probably had their expenses paid) to, what turned out to be, a key UN meeting held this April.
At the UN Commission on Population and Development, the ambassador for Papua New Guinea declared the Pacific islands endorsed the Moana Declaration.
By the end of the Commission, after Pacific island governments were notified of their delegations actions, many were silent. The UN Population Fund couldn’t muster support for the radical agenda – and even distanced itself from their radical agenda, preferring to obfuscate their goals.
Abortion and sexual rights advocates have failed at creating international rights. They’ve broadened their approach to infiltrating inside governments.
Christian leaders in Papua New Guinea are onto them.
LifeNews Note: Wendy Wright writes for the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. This article originally appeared in the pro-life group’s Turtle Bay and Beyond blog and is used with permission.
