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

Other pro-abortion groups in Kenya receiving taxpayer money are the African Woman and Child Features Service and the African Woman and Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), which have received $157,000 and $3 million respectively for lobbying activities.

That doesn’t sit well with Rep. Smith, who said in a press release, “the Obama Administration is trying to change Kenya’s existing restriction on abortion through the referendum. Such actions constitute a violation of U.S. law and is an affront to both the pro-life people of Kenya and the U.S., an overwhelming majority of whom do not support abortion, and in the case of the U.S.— do not want their tax dollars to pay for abortion activities.”

“It’s a total reversal of abortion policy,” Sagnip, Smith’s spokesman, told TheDC. “This crosses a line.”

Concerns over U.S. interference with the Kenyan constitutional process were first raised by Smith, along with Republican Reps. Darrell Issa, of California, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, of Florida, when Vice President Biden seemingly promised in a speech monetary incentives if Kenya passed the proposed constitution. Government support for the proposed constitution is problematic because the constitution would legalize abortion in the country. Current federal law prohibits the use of foreign assistance funds to support lobbying for or against abortion.

At the request of the three lawmakers, the IG at USAID launched an investigation and discovered a list of Kenyan organizations receiving U.S. funds to support the “yes” campaign to pass the new Kenyan constitution. The U.S. Embassy in Kenya had flatly denied those claims.

When asked to comment on Hillary Clinton’s connection to the funding for pro-abortion agencies, a spokesperson for the State Department said, “I cannot.”

USAID has not yet responded to requests for comment.