Pro-life leaders hail Trump for defunding UN agency tied to forced abortions

The Trump administration will no longer be funding a United Nations agency due to its support for China's population control policy that has led to forced and coerced abortions and sterilizations.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department sent a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, saying it would no longer fund United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) for partnering with a Chinese government agency that was responsible for implementing family planning policies involving the use of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization.

The move was hailed by pro-life leaders as well as longtime opponents of population control.

"This is another promise kept [from President Trump], and at the speed of light," Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, told The Christian Post on Tuesday.

He said that it was remarkable that the decision was made within the first few months of the Trump administration, while it took his organization a year to convince Colin Powell, former President George W. Bush's secretary of state, to cut off funding to the UNPFA.

Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, said she was elated about the decision to defund the U.N. agency.

"We are thrilled that the U.S. is no longer funding forced abortion and involuntary sterilization in China. The blood of Chinese women and babies is no longer on our hands," Littlejohn told Life News.

"I have consistently advocated for the defunding of UNFPA over the years, most recently just a couple of weeks ago at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women," she added.

Stephen Phelan, Director of Mission Communications for Human Life International, stated that the defunding of the U.N. agency "sends a signal" to the world that the U.S. is taking the matter seriously.

"It's going to be paying very close attention to what the United Nations is doing. Anyone who truly respects rights, women's freedom, and women's reproductive health should celebrate this decision," Phelan told Life Site News.

The U.N. agency has been defunded by other pro-life presidents in the past, but funding was restored by other pro-abortion presidents, including Barack Obama.

The State Department said that the funds, which amounts to at least $32.5 million for 2017, will be redirected to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which provides medical care to families across the globe.

UNFPA released a statement denying its involvement in forced and coerced abortions in China, saying it promotes the rights of individuals and couples to make their own decisions without coercion or discrimination.