The US government has ordered the six African nations to halt the supply of USAID-provided contraceptives to the international reproductive health organization Marie Stopes International (MSI), on the grounds that MSI works with the Chinese government, whom the US State Department accuses of "coercive abortion and involuntary sterilizations."

The USAID mandate will affect contraceptive services in Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.  MSI is a major distributor of contraceptive supplies and family planning services in those countries. "At a time when world governments have pledged to increase their commitment to improving the health of women, only the Bush Administration could find logic in the idea that they can somehow reduce abortion and promote choice for women in China by causing more abortion and gutting choice for women in Africa," Dana Hovig, MSI chief executive said in a statement. "This senseless decision is likely to have only one clear consequence: the death of African women and girls. And the Bush Administration should answer for that."

MSI firmly maintains that the organization does not support coercive abortion or sterilization in China.

President Bush relies on the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, which stipulates that the US government may not provide funding to organizations known to provide coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization, to excuse his refusal to fulfill the US's obligation of $34 million in funding annually to UNFPA.  (Bush's own State Department found no evidence that UNFPA was involved in any involuntary family planning programs in China.)  In June, Population Action International's Craig Lasher warned RH Reality Check readers that the Bush administration was considering using Kemp-Kasten to withhold funds from other organizations who work in China. Lasher called attention to a statement made by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, "During the course of our evaluation of UNFPA's work, we learned of other organizations that conduct activities in China. The relevant funding agencies are conducting a comprehensive analysis to determine what appropriate and lawful actions can be taken."

Apparently, Negroponte wasn't kidding. More information will be added as soon as we have it.