Philippine bill part of US plan, activists say
Published Date: November 9, 2010
Tags: Henry Kissinger, reproductive health, USA
Philippine bill part of US plan, activists say
Filipino Catholics join a protest march against the passage of the Reproductive Health bill outside Quiapo Church in Manila
An international “pro-life group” has linked efforts to promote reproductive health legislation in the Philippines to United States economic interests in the country.
Virginia-based Human Life International (HLI) claims that the proposed legislation will also promote a depopulation policy which aims to protect access to the natural resources of developing economies.
Brian Clowes, HLI director for research and training, said the administration of President Barack Obama continues to implement a once-secret security memorandum on world population control.
“It is still the same US policy on population control because it has never been repudiated,” Clowes told ucanews.com during the 17th Asia Pacific Congress on Faith and Family over the weekend.
The US government’s primary motivation has nothing to do with altruism or poverty alleviation, said Clowes.
“The memorandum… says that we have to repress the populations because … [poor] countries would want to use their own natural resources. So we need to hold down their populations,” he added.
The 123-page “National Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for US Security and Overseas Interests,” was prepared by the US National Security Council under Henry Kissinger in 1974.
It was formally adopted as US policy in 1975 and was declassified in 1989.
Chapter III of the NSSM 200, which discusses concerns on minerals and fuels, states that “the US economy will require increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries.”
“Wherever a lessening of population pressures through reduced birth rates can increase the prospects for such stability, population policy becomes relevant to resource supplies and to the economic interest of the United States,” the document says.
The Philippines was among the 13 countries identified in NSSM 200 that needed “assistance for population moderation.”
It says that the Philippines was among the “largest and fastest growing developing countries where there is special US political and strategic interest.”
Clowes said Filipinos should be fully aware of the intentions behind the passage of the reproductive health bill.
“This not just about fighting for human rights or women’s rights, it is also about the economic interest of the US government in the Philippines,” he said.
SOURCE
Philippine bill part of US plan, activists say (ucanews.com)
