US withholds cash from UN Population Fund over China abortions

The United States has said it will again withhold contributions to the U N Population Fund due to its work with China, which controls family size, as the agency accused Washington of jeopardizing women's health.

It marked the third straight year that the United States has refused to fund the U N body as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to combat abortion, a pivotal issue for his evangelical Christian base.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo determined that "China's family planning policies still involve the use of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization practices," conditions that under U S law require an end to funding, a State Department spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

She said the U N Population Fund's public documents state that "it partners on family planning with the Chinese government agency responsible for these coercive policies."
The communist government raised the limit to two children in 2016 and there are signs the policy could be ended entirely, with a draft of the sweeping Civil Code due to be introduced in 2020 not mentioning "family planning."