AFRO-NETS> George Bush's War on Women

[Claudio Schuftan <aviva@netnam.vn>]

George Bush's War on Women
--------------------------

Source: gender-aids@healthdev.net

Bush's secret war
IPPF, 22 January, 2003
**********************

London - Shielded by the smokescreen of an imminent war, President 
George Bush is waging another stealth campaign, systematically work-
ing to undermine reproductive freedom around the world, claims The 
International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

Today marks the third anniversary of the beginning of this cultural 
battle. On this day in 2001, in one of his first actions on taking 
office, President Bush reinstated the Global Gag Rule - or Mexico 
City Policy - which cut off U.S. international aid money from any 
family planning organization that engaged, directly or indirectly, in 
abortion-related activities. The cost to IPPF was devastating - $18 
million lost, clinics closed, essential reproductive health denied or 
delayed. This unjust policy has actually increased the number of un-
intended pregnancies and illegal, unsafe abortions and consequently 
needless deaths.

Since then, using every means available to him, Bush has formulated a 
strategy to stifle reproductive rights and access to reproductive 
health care services. They include: instituting gag rules that censor 
free speech; supporting legislation that limits access to family 
planning and abortion services; sinking large sums of money into 
medically unproven abstinence-only sexuality education; nominating 
religious ideologues to important scientific posts and decrying the 
use of condoms.

IPPF Director General Dr Steven Sinding said: "We are using this, the 
third anniversary of the Global Gag Rule, to draw the world's atten-
tion to a chronology of events [see separate War on Women Chronology 
below] which show George Bush's seemingly single-minded determination 
to strip women of reproductive rights and access to reproductive 
health services - not just abortion but even family planning and sex 
education.

"These acts are a testament to the Bush administration's war against 
women and his overall contempt for their fundamental civil and human 
rights."

For further information contact: <fsalter@ippf.org>


George Bush's War on Women: A chronology

Reducing access to family planning

* On his first day in office, the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, 
  Bush restores the Reagan-era global gag rule on international family 
  planning assistance (See also Censoring free speech) - January 22, 
  2001 
* President Bush moves to increase "abstinence-only" education fund-
  ing - October 11, 2002 
* House passes the "Child Custody Protection Act" - April 17, 2002 
* Bush administration representatives fight sexuality education and 
  oppose condoms for HIV/AIDS prevention at the UN Children's Summit 
  (see also Replacing science with right-wing ideology) - May 2002 
* President Bush withholds $34 million in funding for birth control, 
  maternal and child health care, and HIV/AIDS prevention from the 
  United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) (see also Replacing science 
  with right-wing ideology) - July 22, 2002 
* President Bush does an about-face on support of women's rights 
  treaty, The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimina-
  tion Against Women CEDAW - July 26, 2002 
* House passes the so-called "Abortion Non-Discrimination Act" (see 
  also: Building the platform to outlaw abortion) - September 25, 2002 
* Bush administration Web sites remove medically accurate information 
  (see also Reducing access to family planning) - October 2002 
* HHS announces "abstinence-only" advocate to oversee nation's family 
  planning program (see also Replacing science with right-wing ideol-
  ogy) - October 7, 2002 
* Bush administration reverses U.S. position in support of 1994 
  global agreement that affirms the right of all couples and individu-
  als to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of 
  their children and to have the information and means to do so (United 
  Nations, 1994) (see also Censoring free speech) - November 2, 2002

Building the platform to outlaw abortion

* House passes the "Child Custody Protection Act" (see also Reducing 
  access to family planning) - April 17, 2002 
* House passes the so-called "Unborn Victims of Violence Act" (see 
  also Redefining the legal status of the fetus) - April 26, 2001 
* President Bush does an about-face on support of women's rights 
  treaty, The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimina-
  tion Against Women (CEDAW) (see also Reducing access to family plan-
  ning) - July 26, 2002 
* House passes the so-called "Abortion Non-Discrimination Act" (see 
  also Redefining the legal status of the fetus) - September 25, 2002 
* Bush administration gives embryos new status in the HHS Secretary's 
  Advisory Committee on Human Research Protection Charter - October 
  2002 
* Bush Administration Advances position that life begins at concep-
  tion at regional population conference in Asia - December 11-17, 2002

Replacing science with right-wing ideology

* President Bush considers nominating John Klink - an ardent opponent 
  of birth control and a spokesperson for the Vatican's opposition to 
  condom use - to oversee the United States' global population program 
  - May 23, 2001 
* House passes the "Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001" - July 31, 
  2001 
* President Bush prevents taxpayer funding for additional stem cells 
  beyond existing stem cell lines, placing severe limits on stem cell 
  research - August 9, 2001 
* President Bush moves to increase "abstinence-only" education fund-
  ing - October 11, 2001 
* Bush administration representatives fight sexuality education and 
  oppose condoms for HIV/AIDS prevention at the UN Children's Summit 
  (see also Reducing access to family planning) - May 2002 
* President Bush withholds $34 million in funding for birth control, 
  maternal and child health care, and HIV/AIDS prevention from the 
  United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) (see also Reducing access to 
  family planning) - July 22, 2002 
* President Bush withholds more than $200 million in funding for pro-
  grams to support women and address HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan - August 
  2, 2002 
* President Bush Freezes $3 million in funding to the World Health 
  Organization (WHO) in response to anti-choice objections to the WHO's 
  human reproduction research program - October 2002 
* Bush administration Web sites remove medically accurate information 
  (see also Censoring free speech, Reducing access to family planning) 
  - October 2002 
* HHS announces "abstinence-only" advocate to oversee nation's family 
  planning program (see also Reducing access to family planning) - Oc-
  tober 7, 2002 
* Family planning foe Rep. Chris Smith calls on USAID to exclude re-
productive health organizations in developing countries from receiv-
ing HIV/AIDS funding - October 24, 2002

Censoring free speech

* Bush administration Web sites remove medically accurate information 
- October 2002 
* Bush administration reverses U.S. position in support of 1994 
  global agreement that affirms the right of all couples and individu-
  als to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of 
  their children and to have the information and means to do so (United 
  Nations, 1994) (see also Reducing access to family planning) - Novem-
  ber 2, 2002 
* The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site 
  posted "revised" fact sheet downplaying condom effectiveness - Decem-
  ber 2, 2002 
* At an international conference in Bangkok, U.S. officials demanded 
  the deletion of a recommendation for "consistent condom use" to fight 
  AIDS and sexual diseases. One study by the University of California 
  at Berkeley found condom distribution to be astonishingly cost-
  effective, costing just $3.50 per year of life saved. In contrast, 
  antiretroviral therapy cost almost $1,050. Yet the U.S. is now donat-
  ing only 300 million condoms annually, down from about 800 million at 
  the end of the first President Bush's term.

[with thanks to Planned Parenthood Federation of America 
http://www.plannedparenthood.org ]

IPPF is the largest voluntary organization working towards healthier 
sexual and reproductive lives for everyone. Founded 50 years ago in 
India, IPPF now works in 182 countries to fight against poverty, ig-
norance and misery by providing more people with choices about their 
lives, offering sexual and reproductive health and family planning 
information and services, and working to prevent the spread of 
HIV/AIDS and other infections. 

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