By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON, June 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives ignored a White House veto threat and voted on Thursday to allow government donations of contraceptives to family planning groups outside the United States even though they engage in abortion activities.

By a vote of 223-201, the House voted to lift the prohibition in place since 2001. The move angered anti-abortion lawmakers who see it as a step toward loosening strict controls against using U.S. funds for abortions abroad.

The measure was attached to a foreign aid bill for the fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1 that the Senate has not yet debated. House passage of the bill was expected later on Thursday.

The House bill contains other controversial initiatives, including funding Bush's request for pro-democracy initiatives in Cuba that some Democrats argued have been ill-managed.

While the bill denies Bush's request for more economic aid to Iraq, it would spend $1 million to finance a second Iraq Study Group evaluation of the country, where U.S. forces have been fighting since 2003.

Rep. Nita Lowey, the New York Democrat who wrote the amendment on contraceptives, insisted it would not change prohibitions on funding abortions abroad.

Instead, she said her legislation could help prevent 52 million unwanted pregnancies and 29 million abortions a year. "It would advance the Bush administration's stated goal ... to make abortion more rare and protect women and children," Lowey argued.

Most Republicans were not convinced, saying the donated condoms and other contraceptives would free up funds for groups operating abroad to encourage or perform abortions.

"The violence of abortion will increase" with this initiative, said Rep. Christopher Smith. The New Jersey Republican, a leading abortion opponent, failed to remove the contraceptives language from the bill.

A White House statement issued on Tuesday said Bush would veto a bill that "weakens current federal policies and laws on abortion."

The $34.2 billion foreign aid bill also would fund efforts to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS globally next year.

It also would provide refugee assistance to hot spots around the world, fund anti-drug efforts in Colombia and peacekeeping operations in Sudan, Haiti, Kosovo and other nations.

NO NEW IRAQ FUNDS

The House defeated Republican efforts to include about $200 million for Iraq to pay for infrastructure repairs and other nonmilitary programs. Bush had asked for $456 million.

Democrats, who control the House, opposed any new money, saying the Bush administration had not adequately explained how it would spend $2.86 billion recently provided for Iraq rebuilding in an emergency war-funding bill.

The House bill also would prohibit permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.

The House halted U.S. funds for the U.N. Human Rights Council. Lawmakers were angered by the council's recent move to end inquiries of Cuba and Belarus, both accused of human rights abuses, while singling out Israel for continued investigation.

The House also cut the U.S. contribution to the U.N. Development Program by $20 million after U.N. auditors recently found the agency violated its own rules in making cash payments to North Korea.

The House approved $1.3 billion for international peacekeeping, rejecting the Bush administration's suggested funding cuts despite expanding U.N. missions in Lebanon and Darfur and a renewed effort in East Timor. Even with the additional House funds, some experts fear there will be inadequate resources for peacekeeping.

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