[Editor’s note: The following post was submitted by Lauren Salmiery, National Field Director for the Population Connection Action Fund in response to an essay published by Policy Watch on Nov. 20 entitled “A 1960s population control organization rebranded in 2002. Now it’s recruiting UNC students.”]
In response to “A 1960s population control organization renamed in 2002. Now it recruits UNC students.”
Recently, NC Policy Watch published an article regarding the Population Connection story without seeking comment from a representative of the organization. We would like to clarify our progressive values as an organization, which have been misinterpreted.
First and foremost, to Connecting the population and its sister organization, Population Connect Action Fund, who leads the #Fight4HER campaign, we strongly believe in the right of every individual to make their own reproductive decisions, including the right of women to have as many children as they wish. We ensure that everyone, wherever they live in the world, has access to the resources they need to make their own healthcare decisions. We fight every day to lift the harmful restrictions on U.S. aid that unfairly limit access to essential reproductive health services in countries around the world, and we are grateful to have the platform to do so.
We also recognize that billions of people around the world struggle to meet their most basic needs. Around the world:
- 1 billion people do not have access to drinking water;
- 3 billion lack basic sanitation facilities;
- 820 million people do not get enough food to lead healthy and active lives;
- 15,000 children under five die every day, more than half of them from preventable and easily treatable diseases
It is no coincidence that people living in countries with higher population growth rates, in addition to a myriad of connected systems including colonialism, income inequality, government corruption, racism, sexism and misogyny, face the most serious challenges. We know that efforts to secure reproductive autonomy and investments in reproductive health programs save and improve lives, and that these investments pay off in their communities and the world at large.
Of course, it is vital to understand that population movement has a tumultuous history. We condemned, and will continue to condemn, the disturbing story of coerced sterilization that has touched far too many lives in the United States and around the world. While Population Connection (formerly Zero Population Growth) never advocating for coercive policies of population control, we know we must acknowledge these past injustices to move forward in our fight to ensure access to reproductive health care for everyone, everywhere.
We fiercely support a wide range of progressive issues, including reproductive justice, environmental justice, LGBTQ+ justice, immigration justice, and racial justice. We damn the efforts of eco-fascists to use the population as a veil for their racist, nativist and xenophobic agenda.
We appreciate the author’s clear dedication to ensuring people are able to make reproductive choices without coercion, barriers, and judgment. In a time of near-constant attacks on reproductive rights and freedoms in North Carolina, the United States, and around the world, this devotion is all the more imperative. We look forward to continuing the fight for these shared values as we work to break down barriers to access to comprehensive reproductive health care around the world.