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Inside the Damaging Legacy of American Diplomat’s Policies against African Pro-Lifers

Logo of Human Life International (HLI). Credit: HLI

Henry Kissinger, the American diplomat and politician who died on November 28 aged 100 will be remembered as the man who inhibited pro-life initiatives globally, including in a number of African countries.

Human Life International (HAI), a global Catholic pro-life organization, has reflected on the long-lasting damage done by Kissinger’s work as Secretary of State in 1974’s Kissinger Report.

The Director of Education and Research at HAI, Dr. Brian Clowes, has studied the ongoing impact of the report, which the U.S-based pro-life organization describes as the genesis of the global population control agenda.

The top-secret document from the United States National Security Council titled “National Security Study Memorandum” (NSSM) was completed in 1974. The NSSM-200 was commonly referred to as the “Kissinger Report,” having been written under his direction as the U.S. Secretary of State.

In Zambia and in Nigeria, for instance, refusal to legalize sodomy and homosexuality, respectively, had long-lasting repercussions for the two African countries, Dr. Clowes says in a report that HAI sent to ACI Africa on December 2.

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“When Nigeria refused to legalize contraception and homosexuality in 2015, the United States withdrew financial and military aid that would allow it to combat the Islamic terror group Boko Haram,” Dr. Clowes says.

He adds that refusal by the U.S. to support Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram has led to the kidnapping and the slaughtering of “tens of thousands of Nigerian people, mostly Christian.”

The HAI official notes that Zambia’s 2019 refusal to legalize sodomy, triggered the withdrawal of U.S. foreign aid to help alleviate the 11 percent national HIV infection rate and to care for 250,000 AIDS orphans.

Outside Africa, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) halted food and other aid to millions of starving Yemenis in 2020 because the nation refused to legalize abortion, Dr. Clowes says, adding that when Ecuador declined to legalize abortion in 2020, and the United Nations also refused to provide aid for it to battle COVID-19.

In the HAI report, Dr. Clowes notes that the half-century-old Kissinger Report continues to be the foundation for U.S. government population control policy, despite its deleterious and destructive effects on the world at large. 

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Kissinger, a German-born Jewish served as the U.S. Secretary of State and national security advisor in the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon (U.S. President 1969-1974) and Gerald Ford (U.S. President 1974-1977).

His death has evoked polarized reactions, with some describing him as a war criminal who crushed human rights. Russian President Vladimir Putin has, on his part, praised Kissinger as a "wise and farsighted statesman”.

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.