A decision on a proposed World Bank health strategy was postponed on Tuesday when European nations objected to a U.S. effort to alter language on reproductive health services, including abortions, for women in developing countries.
World Bank board sources, who attended the meeting, told Reuters that representatives from France, Germany, Italy and Norway objected to the move by the U.S. representative on the board, Whitney Debevoise, during a discussion on the bank's Strategy for Health, Nutrition and Population Results.
The sources said the dispute flared when Debevoise proposed to insert the phrase "age appropriate access to sexual and reproductive healthcare" -- language the Europeans said could restrict younger women's access to reproductive services in poor countries.
The sources said the U.S. move would have changed the phrasing from "reproductive health services," encompassing the provision of reproductive services, including abortions.
The Bush administration has frequently been accused of denying funds to groups or clinics that even offer advice about abortion. It has also been accused of trying to limit access to birth control, although the U.S. government does distribute more condoms globally than any other country.
The World Bank has worked in population and reproductive health for more than three decades and has approved more than $3 billion in lending in those areas.
The latest dispute follows documents leaked earlier this month that showed the bank's Managing Director, Juan Jose Daboub, had deleted all references to family planning in a bank strategy being prepared for the African island nation of Madagascar.
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