Bush's & neocons war on women: Global gag rule results in abortion deaths

[prolesunited]

U.S. Policy Blamed for Abortion Deaths in Ethiopia
'Global Gag Rule' Prevents Agencies from Discussing Pregnancy Alternatives

Across Africa, most women have limited or no access to prenatal care, contraception or competent doctors, due to poverty and poor public health systems. In Ethiopia, at least 55 percent of all maternal deaths are abortion- related, and unsafe terminations are the second biggest killer of women of child-bearing age after AIDS, according to a study by the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights.

In Ethiopia, where 45 percent of the country's 72 million people live in poverty, giving birth is a high-risk activity. Many women terminate pregnancies as a method of contraception. When these procedures go wrong, as so many do, Ethiopian women often turn to domestic and foreign health agencies.
<snip>

The ban -- first announced by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and rescinded by President Bill Clinton in 1993 -- prohibits U.S. financing to organizations that perform or counsel abortions or provide post-abortion counseling, even if they do not terminate pregnancies themselves.
<snip>

Last year, the Family Guidance Association lost $3.9 million in U.S. funding after lobbying the Ethiopian government to legalize abortion and refusing to sign a declaration from Pathfinder International, a USAID partner organization that demanded it halt all abortion-related services. Pathfinder International soon ceased supplying the Family Guidance Association with contraceptives. "By depriving us of contraceptives, we now face an increase in unwanted pregnancies," Bedada said. "Women are once again using abortion as a routine contraception, not as an emergency measure."

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1212-02.htm

Some questions to start:
Do you think they care about the deaths that have resulted from their policies?
Why the focus on the unborn over the living?
What motivates them to be involved in family planning issues a continent away?
Why is pregnancy and abortion a political, rather than medical, issue?
Should the U.S. be involved in these issues in the first place?

Finally, what implications does this mindset have for the women living in the U.S.?

Feel free to answer as many or as few as you choose as well as contribute your own thoughts to the discussion.

[FlaGranny]

1. I must say, the questions you ask

are those of a progressive-minded, thinking person.
Answers:
No.
No idea.
No idea.
No idea.
No.

As you can see by my answers to your questions, I do not understand the mind of a neocon.

Edit: As for the implication here - it is a picture of things to come if we don't prevent it.

[prolesunited]

3. I'm going to take the characterization

of progressive-thinking as a compliment, so thank you. :-)

I don't understand them either. That's why I'm asking the questions. I'm hoping someone here will have some insight.

I can see what some would stand to gain economically by keeping women subservient in the U.S., but what do they gain from it by carrying out such a policy in Ethiopia?

As for U.S. involvement and your reluctance to be involved, would your answer be different if we were educating women, distributing contraception and providing access to abortions?

[FlaGranny]

8. You took it right - as a compliment.

and you're welcome. :-)

I'm not sure what you mean by my reluctance to be involved. I do what I can to speak out about these issues and others.

[prolesunited]

9. Perhaps I wasn't clear

I didn't mean your personal reluctance to be be involved — I certainly would have no way of knowing that and I'm sure that's not the case.

What I meant was that in response to the last question, which was should the U.S. be involved in this issue at all, and you replied no. So what I was trying to get at was would you favor U.S. involvement if it was in a more positive — I guess this term is relative — direction to reduce mortality rates by providing contraception and abortion services.

I hope explained it better this time so you don't rescind the compliment. ;-)

[DuctapeFatwa]

2. Oppression and subjugation of women is the best method of social control

that has ever been devised by mankind. It is time-tested, surefire, and efficient.

Literate women teach their kids to read.

Economically empowered women are more likely to spend their earnings on things that will benefit their children and their community, as opposed to things that will benefit the king or feudal lord.

Restricting a woman's control over her body as a method of restricting her economic freedom can't be beat.

[ninkasi]

4. I agree...

In order to put the way women feel about being subjected to this opression, try to imagine a photo of a bunch of rich old white women watching a woman president sign a bill limiting a man's right to vasectomy, using condoms, or taking Viagra.

In addition, they dictate how men dress, and let only a tiny fraction of men make policy. It's a crying shame that women have to suffer from decisions made to pander to the religious right in this country.

[pmbryant]

5. Some brief answers for now

I'll answer a few of these questions right now. Later, I'll try to read the article in more depth and give a more thoughtful response. This is an issue which has only been on the outskirts of my political peripheral vision over the years, but it is very important, and I need to learn more about it. So thanks for posting about this!


Do you think they care about the deaths that have resulted from their policies?

Apparently not, since they do nothing to improve the situation. They have a lot of other policies that result in unneccessary deaths as well (e.g., Iraq, of course). Death just doesn't seem to matter much to them as long as it isn't anyone they know.

Why the focus on the unborn over the living?

All I can figure is that this is to play to their religious-right base that is so obsessed with the abortion issue, but that's hardly an original idea.

What motivates them to be involved in family planning issues a continent away?

Politics. They want to throw a bone to the religious-right, but such policies in this country would cause an uproar. So it is much easier to penalize people halfway across the world who the GOP base will never miss.

Finally, what implications does this mindset have for the women living in the U.S.?

This is one that's going to require some more thought, so I'll try to get back to it in my later response.

--Peter

[prolesunited]

6. Interesting theory

on why they would play their policies out there rather than here and I definitely think it has some merit.

I shudder to think how many lives have been destroyed in their global power plays.

I'm looking forward to your further elaboration on that last point.

[pmbryant]

7. Truly horrifying

One thing that struck me from the article is that abortion is illegal all over Africa except in South Africa. That certainly sounds like something that Bush et al would be happy with. So what does this policy accomplish that isn't already law there? What it does is deprive funding for contraception etc, hence increasing the eventual number of illegal abortions.

So this is even more of a truly unconscionable act by the Bush regime than I had previously thought. And they clearly don't even care that their misguided policy is resulting in more abortions than the previous policy. All that they appear to care about is the political capital they get with the religious right via forbidding funding to anything even remotely associated with the word 'abortion'.

They rely on the ignorance of their own political base, which is not surprising, I suppose.

Finally, what implications does this mindset have for the women living in the U.S.?

My conclusion is that, while currently the Bushies are afraid to implement such policies here at home, they would do so quite eagerly if they felt it would be to their political advantage and if they thought they could get away with it. And that should be a truly horrifying thought, for all Americans, but especially for the women.

After all, when have the Bush or the modern GOP ever shown an ounce of caring for the general population, even in this country?

:scared:

--Peter

[prolesunited]

10. I think their blueprint for the U.S.

is The Handmaid's Tale.

My sincere wish is that these people is that they be forced to live in the hells that they have created for others.