Ipas > Ipas stands by "reproductive rights"

Ipas stands by "reproductive rights"

December 3, 2004

As of today, nearly 1,000 individuals from around the world had signed a petition on Ipas’s website objecting to public radio station WUNC-FM’s removal of the phrase “reproductive rights” from our underwriting announcement. Ipas is extremely encouraged by this overwhelming show of support, and we thank everyone who signed. It’s good to know that so many others respect free speech and reproductive rights.

Unfortunately, neither logic nor community sentiment have swayed WUNC management, which stands by its decision, citing fear of punishment by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). We very much regret this outcome, particularly given the report in The Independent Weekly that National Public Radio’s former general counsel Ernest Sanchez says he “knows of no case in which the FCC has objected to language used in an underwriting announcement….” Several times we offered a win-win scenario: By restoring “reproductive rights” to Ipas’s announcement, WUNC management could have shown that it respects concerns expressed by a broad section of its listening audience. This action would have been consistent with the station’s responsibility to "serve the public interest" and with its own claim to be “your NPR station.” We are very disappointed that WUNC refused to take that opportunity.

Because Ipas is a principled organization, we had no choice but to withdraw our sponsorship of WUNC. We recognize public radio in general and WUNC in particular as valuable community resources and have no interest in undermining them. We want only to be able to tell the whole truth about our work to protect women’s reproductive health and rights around the world. All underwriters of public radio are entitled to describe themselves fully and accurately.

As we have maintained in our discussions with WUNC, reproductive rights is a mainstream concept encompassing a series of rights that are respected and enforced by the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court, in countries around the world, and in multiple international agreements endorsed by all but a few governments. At a minimum, these include the rights of couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children, and to make reproductive decisions free of discrimination, coercion and violence.

This controversy has raised important concerns about the current political climate in the United States. Examples abound of how conservative political forces have instilled fear in and even actively punished organizations and individuals that do not conform to their narrow ideological positions. Sadly, they are succeeding in positioning mainstream concepts such as reproductive rights as fringe views and ultimately silencing their expression.

Protecting reproductive rights, whenever they are challenged, is a key component of the work Ipas has pursued for the last 30 years--saving women’s lives from unsafe abortion. Every minute of every day, 40 women facing unwanted pregnancies undergo unsafe abortion; about 200 of them die every day. That is why we work to improve women’s access to comprehensive reproductive-health information and services, including safe abortion and contraception to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions. We are heartened by the knowledge that so many people around the world support our mission and are willing to stand with us in difficult times.

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258