U.S. funding of groups lobbying for pro-abortion constitution in Kenya more than previously thought

U.S. monetary support for groups lobbying in favor a new proposed constitution that legalizes abortion in Kenya may be greater than previously thought.

According to a press release from New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, new information from the Inspector General for the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID) says funding for the “yes” campaign in Kenya has reached $23 million.

As The Daily Caller previously reported, that number was originally thought to be only $11 million. Not only is the actual amount of funding higher than previously believed, but further analysis of the IG’s information shows direct links between taxpayer money and pro-abortion groups in Kenya responsible for the provision in the new proposed Kenyan constitution that legalizes abortion.

Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for Smith, speculated to The Daily Caller that support for the abortion legalizing constitution might be influenced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s agenda to expand abortion access worldwide.

During her tenure as Secretary of State, Clinton has not disguised her desire to increase abortion access. She has, in fact, made several public statements announcing the State Department’s advocacy for abortion as part of women’s health care.

In April 2009, Clinton was questioned in a congressional hearing about whether the term “reproductive health” includes abortion. “We [the current US administration] happen to think that family planning is an important part of women’s health and reproductive health includes access to abortion that I believe should be safe, legal and rare,” she responded.

In a speech on January 8, 2010, at the 15th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, Clinton said:

“The U.S. Congress recently appropriated more than $648 million in foreign assistance to family planning and reproductive health programs worldwide…The year 2015 is the target year…All governments will make access to reproductive healthcare and family planning services a basic right.”

President Obama seemingly shares this view. On January 23, 2009, two days after he took office, the president repealed the Mexico City Policy that banned non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from using federal money to promote abortion.

Also in January 2009, Obama restored U.S. funding to the United Nations Population Fund. U.S. funding had been canceled by President George W. Bush under suspicions that the money was being used in China to support coercive abortions and China’s one child policy.

The IG report suggests that the Obama administration is now actively campaigning for Kenya’s new constitution that legalizes abortion for the first time in East African country by funneling $23 million from the USAID budget for foreign aid to pro-abortion groups in Kenya that are lobbying for its passage.

For example, Kenyan Federal of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Kenya) started a campaign in 2008 to expand access to abortion in Kenya. And it played a very influential role in drafting the abortion provision in the proposed constitution. However, FIDA-Kenya is a member of the Kenyan Reproductive Health and Rights Alliance (RHRA), which is supported and financed by Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). So not only is FIDA-Kenya received funds from Planned Parenthood, but it has also received $85,363 to date from the USAID for the “yes” campaign.