This US bill will hurt the world's poorest women

[Judi Lynn]

This US bill will hurt the world's poorest women
Republicans are pushing through a bill that would reimpose a 'global gag', stopping NGOs from talking about abortion
Yvonne Singh guardian.co.uk,
Monday 7 March 2011 16.51 GMT

On Tuesday 8 March, the 100th anniversary of international women's day, more than a thousand activists will be attending a rally on Washington's Capitol Hill as part of a global round of celebratory activities, demanding a better future for some of the world's poorest women.

With the spotlight placed firmly on women's rights, it's ironic that Republicans in the House of Representatives have chosen this moment to push through a resolution (19 February), which will, if it becomes law, have a devastating impact on women's health and reproductive rights in the developing world, as well as affect some of the poorest and most vulnerable women in the US.

Part of a package that Nancy Northup, the president of the Centre for Reproductive Rights, has termed "the most vicious attack on women's health and rights in several decades", the bill includes cutting funding to the Title X family-planning programme – affecting low-income families' access to contraception and sexual health services in the US – and in an international context, it is also demanding the reimposition of the hated "global gag" rule.

This draconian edict, forged by Ronald Reagan, stripped USAID funding from international NGOs that dared to convey any information about abortion, along with other aspects of family planning, such as contraception and HIV/Aids prevention, to the communities they worked in. Since Reagan imposed the gag in 1984, it has become the proverbial political football; overturned by the Clinton administration in 1993, reimposed by Bush in 2001 and rescinded by Obama in 2009.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/07/us-women-republicans-global-gag-abortion

[csziggy]

1. An article published about this a few years ago

The Mexico City Policy and Its Consequences for Refugees
Posted by Editoriar2008 on Sat, 04/04/2009 - 17:23

Each year, 19 million women risk their lives to undergo unsafe abortions because the procedure is illegal, severely restricted, or difficult to access. Of women who undergo unsafe abortions, as many as 80 percent face illness, injury, or disability. Globally, unsafe abortions account for approximately 68,000 deaths annually and 13 percent of all pregnancy-related deaths. As alarming as these global statistics are, the situation for refugees and internally displaced women is especially dire due to lack of access to proper facilities and services. Since refugees and internally displaced persons are in similar positions with regard to reproductive health and unsafe abortions, this paper will refer to both populations as “refugees.” A 1999 report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that “25 to 50 per-cent of maternal deaths in refugee settings are due to complications resulting from unsafe abortions.” In addition, many who survive live with the effects of severe complications, including incomplete abortion, sepsis, hemorrhage, and intra-abdominal injury or long-term health problems such as chronic pelvic inflammatory disease, tubal blockage, or secondary infertility.

Many refugees are left with few alternatives to unsafe abortions. Refugee women are often subjected to forced sex and have limited access to reproductive health services, including contraceptives. This can cause a high rate of unwanted pregnancy and increases the need for safe and accessible abortion services. However, the staggering number of maternal deaths caused by unsafe abortions each year among refugees demonstrates that their reproductive health needs are not being met. As with many refugee services, reproductive health programs suffer from a lack of resources and accessibility.

Over the last two-and-a-half decades the issue has been further complicated by the Mexico City Policy. Since the U.S. policy was first instituted in 1985, it has been rescinded and reinstated several times by successive presidents of different parties. Most recently, President Barack Obama rescinded the policy on January 13, 2009. The Mexico City Policy banned U.S. funding from going to any organization that performs or promotes abortions, “provides advice, counseling, referrals or information regarding abortion, or a foreign government to legalize or make abortion available,” even if the money used for those services are private funds. Critics dubbed the policy the “global gag rule” because it restricts these humanitarian organizations from discussing abortion as an option for pregnant women. Since President George W. Bush reinstated the policy in 2001, many family planning and reproductive health organizations that serve refugee populations lost funding. This, in turn, has impeded access to all forms of reproductive health services, including safe abortions.

<SNIP>

A. Elise Letanosky is an MA candidate in international affairs at The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, with a focus on development. She graduated from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida in May 2007 where she majored in international relations and minored in women’s studies.

More: http://www.iar-gwu.org/node/64

Disclaimer - Elise is my niece. She has since gotten her MA and is now working for a NGO in Washington after volunteering as a Congressional intern for Rep. John D. Dingell during the Health Care Reform debate. I saw this article before it was published and before Obama had rescinded the policy.

[Demeter]

2. I'd LIke a Global Gag for the GOP, and Tea Party, Please

and if you can throw in a few religions while you're at it, all the better.