I am currently in Bogotá,
Colombia where I spoke at one of Human Life International's REDESSVIDA
conferences this week to train Catholic seminarians and clergy on
pro-life issues. (You can see photos from this week on the HLI Facebook
page.)
As you may recall, two years
ago Melinda Gates, wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, kicked off her
"No Controversy" campaign in London on the 100th anniversary of the
first London eugenics conference. Ms. Gates and her partners pledged to
raise billions of dollars to put women in developing countries on birth
control. HLI responded by reminding Ms. Gates that contraceptives are indeed controversial for a number of reasons.
This past week, Ms. Gates
tried to quiet the concerns of those questioning whether the Gates
Foundation funds abortion in the work that they do, and has received
some positive press for her statements.
I felt it was important to set the record straight, so I just released the following statement to the media. Please share it with your friends and family.
And please pray for me and for all of HLI's pro-life missionaries---and for Ms. Gates as well.
May God bless you.
Sincerely yours in Christ, 
Father Shenan J. Boquet
President, Human Life International
Father Shenan J. Boquet
President, Human Life International
Claim that Gates Foundation Does Not Fund Abortion "An Outright Deception"
Human
Life International (HLI) President Father Shenan J. Boquet called the
recent claim by Melinda Gates that her Foundation does not fund
abortion "an outright deception" in comments released today. Father
Boquet made the comments from Bogotá, Colombia where he spoke at an
HLI-sponsored conference this week to train Catholic seminarians and
clergy on pro-life issues. His full statement follows:
"Melinda
Gates' claim that 'the Gates Foundation has decided not to fund
abortion' should not be hailed as good news from pro-lifers, because
it's an outright deception.
"The
Gates Foundation has in the past and will continue to give tens of
millions of dollars to the largest abortion providers in the world,
including International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes
International. These large sums of money will undoubtedly expand the
reach and influence of the abortion industry.
"And
while Ms. Gates claims to only be focused on contraceptives, what is
often not discussed in public about these drugs and devices---and
certainly not disclosed to the women in the developing world who receive
Ms. Gates' contraceptives---is their potential to cause abortions at
the earliest stage of pregnancy. Conception can still, and often does,
occur even when these methods are being used, and that new life in the
womb is then destroyed due to their effects on a woman's body.
"The
Gates Foundation and their partners have pledged to spend billions to
push these abortion-causing drugs and devices onto poor women in
Africa, Asia and Latin America who are already suffering and in need of
genuine development aid. And as Human Life International's pro-life
missionaries have seen first-hand in Africa, the methods Ms. Gates is
promoting worldwide are not only killing preborn lives, but destroying
women's health due to their dangerous, and sometimes deadly, side
effects.
"If
the Gates Foundation is really committed not to fund abortion as Ms.
Gates says, she should immediately stop her multi-billion dollar effort
to push abortifacients on impoverished women in the developing world."
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Commentary
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Ocean to Ocean Pilgrimage
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Winona, Minnesota is a picturesque city on the Mississippi River. Named after Princess We-Noh-Nah, daughter of Cheif Wapasha III, it is known as the stained glass capital of the United States. The Black Madonna was warmly welcomed during her busy visit to the Diocese of Winona from May 23 to June 2. Read More...
