Editor's note.

DURING THE PAST YEAR WE HAVE WITNESSED AN OPEN WAR on funding for international family planning. Our antennae went up when US president George W. Bush initially delayed his government's promised $34 million funding for the United Nations Population Fund in December 2001. The final decision took a while in coming. But when Bush finally made up his mind to cancel the funding in July 2002, the scene was set. In the following pages we present an analysis of the situation, to provide those in the United States and abroad with the tools to oppose this insidious attack on the wellbeing of women and children around the world. We aim to mobilize you, our readership, into supporting the kind of reproductive health policies that truly serve women, and are both non-coercive and culturally appropriate.

In the first place, we investigate the allegations that UNFPA is involved in, funds, or is complicit in coercive practices in China; we talk to UNFPA director Thoraya Obaid; and we examine the `evidence' for coercion in China that was provided by anti-family planning groups and used to justify the Bush administration's decision. We look at China itself and the role coercion has played in its family planning programs over the years. And then we spread the net wider, examining the role coercion has played in reproductive choices. Finally, we asked religious leaders what they thought of the decision to defund UNFPA. Some of their responses may surprise you.

At the outset, we emphasize our opposition to all forms of coercion, of women or men, into reproductive choices that are not fully-informed or voluntary. Whether it's a sterilization or pack of contraceptives in exchange for a $5 loan to women in Bangladesh or a $200 grant to drug-addicted women in the US; forced abortions or the lack of reproductive health services in China; or the seemingly mild tax breaks some countries offer to encourage couples to have more children, we unreservedly oppose them. Our only interest is in supporting policies that uphold the autonomy of women and men to make decisions about whether and when to have children. Period.

Meanwhile, on a more mundane note, I am sure we will hear from you about our new design, which we introduced to make our content more accessible to our readers and to facilitate sales at outlets of Borders and BooksAMillion, where we are now available. If you don't already subscribe, do so now. You will not only be helping to support the important analysis we provide on so many issues, you will also give yourself insights and information you will find nowhere else. Guaranteed--or your money back!