WH Spent $23M of Taxpayer Money Towards Helping to Legalize Abortion in Kenya

[Zoom-boing]

A Republican lawmaker is accusing the White House of “unconscionable” and “illegal” acts for its role in Kenya's referendum on a new constitution, which would legalize abortion in the country for the first time.

Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey cited a report by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, that estimated that more than $23 million in U.S. taxpayer funds have been spent on the referendum. Smith and other conservatives have complained that at least some of that money has been spent in support of the proposed constitution, possibly violating U.S. law.

“Under no circumstances should the U.S. government take sides,” Smith said at a news conference Wednesday. “Yet that is precisely what the Obama administration has done.”

The proposed constitution will curtail the vast powers of the Kenyan president, offering more balance among the different branches of government in an effort to bring order and stability to the political process of a nation often torn by tumultuous exchanges of power.

Vice President Biden told the Kenyan people in a recent speech, "Let me repeat, this is your decision, your decision alone. And the people of Kenya must make this choice -- a choice for Kenya by Kenyans."

Smith and other lawmakers have accused the Obama administration of offering incentives to Kenya to approve the controversial new constitution, promising that passage would “allow money to flow” into the nation's coffers. A federal law known as the Siljander Amendment makes it illegal for the U.S. government to lobby on abortion in other countries.

“We were unable to get any information prior to asking for those (USAID) reports,” Smith said. “There’s been no transparency in this process.”

Smith had been joined by Reps. Darrell Issa of California and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, both Republicans, in requesting the federal investigation into the administration's spending on the referendum.

“U.S. law is being violated with impunity,” Smith told FoxNews.com. “We shouldn’t be pushing for other the ‘yes’ or the ‘no’ camp, but instead, we’re bankrolling the ‘yes’ campaign.”

One group that has received almost $3 million from the U.S. government, Development Alternatives, openly supported “advocating for efforts to eventually legalize abortion in Kenya,” Smith said. Another group, The Committee of Experts on Constitutional Review in Kenya, changed the wording of the Kenyan constitution’s abortion clause to make abortion more widely accessible – and has received over $180,000 from the U.S.

Thanks to these findings, nine of the more than 200 organizations in Kenya that received money from the U.S. have been suspended from receiving assistance, the U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Katya Thomas in Nairobi told the AP Friday.

FOXNews.com - White House Spent $23M of Taxpayer Money to Back Kenyan Constitution That Legalizes Abortion, GOP Reps Say

 

[Oscar Wao]

I could think of 23 things that could have been done with that $23 million...

 

[DiamondDave]

The tendrils keep extending

 

[topspin]

partisan hacks
Shocking that 23m for abortions gets tools in an uproar.
But a billion for GA the country after the bombing gets a collective yawn.

 

[Barb]

So fucking what? The international gag rule Reagan implemented (and Clinton nixed the reinstated under economic pressure, and Bush then reinforced) with his Mexico Policy refused to fund any organization, national or non national organization that used their OWN funds to advocate for reproductive rights.

Hell, you're title is bullshit, as even the OP itself says only, and ONLY MAYBE, part of that 23 mil was used to advocate this sane and humane policy.

All okay over the years when we ACTIVELY worked against such? That was okay? Even when reproductive rights were the LAW in our own land, it was all sweetness and light to restrict others from making abortion safe and legal in theirs?

WHAT is the overwhelming attraction to this bipolarity, this utter disregard for intellectual consistency, this blatant disregard for the simple fucking FACT that where abortion is legal and accessible it is also safer and RARER than where it is prohibited?

 

[Truthmatters]

womens reproductive rights are tied to womens rights and womens rights are key in turning these coutnries arround.


i wish your religion would stop getting in the way of improving this world for OUR benifit.

 

[Avorysuds]

partisan hacks
Shocking that 23m for abortions gets tools in an uproar.
But a billion for GA the country after the bombing gets a collective yawn.

So 2 wrongs makes a right, what does that make you?

 

[Avorysuds]

womens reproductive rights are tied to womens rights and womens rights are key in turning these coutnries arround.


i wish your religion would stop getting in the way of improving this world for OUR benifit.

Haha so then you admit Obama is very similar to a neocon?