The Progress Report
by Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin
with Nico Pitney and Mipe Okunseinde
January 25, 2005
WOMEN'S RIGHTS
The Assault on Liberty
WAR COSTS
WOMEN'S RIGHTS
The Assault on Liberty
Yesterday, President Bush addressed a gathering of tens of thousands of people who want Roe v. Wade to be overturned and reaffirmed his support for criminalizing abortion. Bush told the crowd they were "making progress" toward their goal. The organizers of the rally, March for Life, favor criminalizing abortion even in cases of rape and incest. Bush's hostile views towards women's rights are of even greater concern because he could "make several Supreme Court appointments in his second term" who oppose Roe. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, at least 21 states would quickly outlaw abortion. That's why it's so important for progressives not to abandon their commitment to reproductive rights.
BUSH'S AGGRESSIVE ANTI-WOMAN AGENDA: Bush's opposition to abortion is more than just talk. The National Right to Life Committee heralded the 2003-2004 Congress as "the most successful ever for the pro-life movement." With the help of his right-wing allies in Congress, Bush signed a number of laws which erode women's rights in the United States. The new laws criminalize certain abortion procedures, define a fetus at any stage of development as a person, and make it harder for women to obtain abortions at publicly funded hospitals. Out of over 200 judges nominated to the federal bench by Bush, only two have expressed any respect for abortion rights.
THE NEXT GENERATION OF INTIMIDATION: Now "lawmakers in Congress and several states, meanwhile, are introducing the latest in a wave of measures aimed at making it more daunting to obtain an abortion." One bill would require abortion providers to read a script telling women 20 weeks or more pregnant that an abortion could cause pain to their fetus. Also under consideration: a bill that makes it a crime – even for family members – to take a minor to another state for a legal abortion.
PUTTING WOMEN'S HEALTH AT RISK: Criminalizing abortion won't end abortion – it will just put women's health at risk. In 1930, "almost 2,700 women died from illegal abortions – and that's just the number who had abortion recorded as their official cause of death." In 1962, "almost 1,600 women were treated for incomplete illegal abortions in at Harlem Hospital." Forty-three percent of all abortions worldwide are performed in countries where abortion is illegal. According to the World Health Organization, "80,000 women around the world still die each year of complications from illegal abortion." Maybe that's why Laura Bush opposes overturning Roe v. Wade.
COMMON GROUND – REDUCING UNWANTED PREGNANCIES: In a speech yesterday at the New York State Capital, Sen. Hillary Clinton said, "There is an opportunity for people of good faith to find common ground in this debate – we should be able to agree that we want every child born in this country to be wanted, cherished and loved." The best way to reduce the number of abortions is to help people out of poverty, get them access to medical care – including family planning – and a high-quality education. That is what happened during the 1990s, and the abortion rate declined. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the Clinton years the abortion rate fell by about 27 percent. Now that we have abandoned many of those policies and poverty is back on the rise, the trend has reversed. A new independent study by an ethics professor at Fuller Theological Seminary finds that "contrary to popular assumption, abortion has risen in the U.S. during George W. Bush's presidency." And protecting women's rights isn't about rejecting faith. The Rev. Debra W. Haffner writes that "for more than fifty years, many religious leaders from diverse denominations have affirmed the moral agency of women."
BUSH PRAISES ANTI-ABORTION TACTICS: Bush praised abortion opponents for "the civil way that you have engaged one of America's most contentious issues." But since 1982 "there have been 169 arsons and/or bombings of abortion clinics." The Pro-Life Action League, a group affiliated with the march, supports "sidewalk counseling," which involves approaching "a woman about to enter an abortion clinic…in an effort to talk her out of aborting the baby."
with Nico Pitney and Mipe Okunseinde
January 25, 2005
WOMEN'S RIGHTS
The Assault on Liberty
WAR COSTS
WOMEN'S RIGHTS
The Assault on Liberty
Yesterday, President Bush addressed a gathering of tens of thousands of people who want Roe v. Wade to be overturned and reaffirmed his support for criminalizing abortion. Bush told the crowd they were "making progress" toward their goal. The organizers of the rally, March for Life, favor criminalizing abortion even in cases of rape and incest. Bush's hostile views towards women's rights are of even greater concern because he could "make several Supreme Court appointments in his second term" who oppose Roe. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, at least 21 states would quickly outlaw abortion. That's why it's so important for progressives not to abandon their commitment to reproductive rights.
BUSH'S AGGRESSIVE ANTI-WOMAN AGENDA: Bush's opposition to abortion is more than just talk. The National Right to Life Committee heralded the 2003-2004 Congress as "the most successful ever for the pro-life movement." With the help of his right-wing allies in Congress, Bush signed a number of laws which erode women's rights in the United States. The new laws criminalize certain abortion procedures, define a fetus at any stage of development as a person, and make it harder for women to obtain abortions at publicly funded hospitals. Out of over 200 judges nominated to the federal bench by Bush, only two have expressed any respect for abortion rights.
THE NEXT GENERATION OF INTIMIDATION: Now "lawmakers in Congress and several states, meanwhile, are introducing the latest in a wave of measures aimed at making it more daunting to obtain an abortion." One bill would require abortion providers to read a script telling women 20 weeks or more pregnant that an abortion could cause pain to their fetus. Also under consideration: a bill that makes it a crime – even for family members – to take a minor to another state for a legal abortion.
PUTTING WOMEN'S HEALTH AT RISK: Criminalizing abortion won't end abortion – it will just put women's health at risk. In 1930, "almost 2,700 women died from illegal abortions – and that's just the number who had abortion recorded as their official cause of death." In 1962, "almost 1,600 women were treated for incomplete illegal abortions in at Harlem Hospital." Forty-three percent of all abortions worldwide are performed in countries where abortion is illegal. According to the World Health Organization, "80,000 women around the world still die each year of complications from illegal abortion." Maybe that's why Laura Bush opposes overturning Roe v. Wade.
COMMON GROUND – REDUCING UNWANTED PREGNANCIES: In a speech yesterday at the New York State Capital, Sen. Hillary Clinton said, "There is an opportunity for people of good faith to find common ground in this debate – we should be able to agree that we want every child born in this country to be wanted, cherished and loved." The best way to reduce the number of abortions is to help people out of poverty, get them access to medical care – including family planning – and a high-quality education. That is what happened during the 1990s, and the abortion rate declined. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the Clinton years the abortion rate fell by about 27 percent. Now that we have abandoned many of those policies and poverty is back on the rise, the trend has reversed. A new independent study by an ethics professor at Fuller Theological Seminary finds that "contrary to popular assumption, abortion has risen in the U.S. during George W. Bush's presidency." And protecting women's rights isn't about rejecting faith. The Rev. Debra W. Haffner writes that "for more than fifty years, many religious leaders from diverse denominations have affirmed the moral agency of women."
BUSH PRAISES ANTI-ABORTION TACTICS: Bush praised abortion opponents for "the civil way that you have engaged one of America's most contentious issues." But since 1982 "there have been 169 arsons and/or bombings of abortion clinics." The Pro-Life Action League, a group affiliated with the march, supports "sidewalk counseling," which involves approaching "a woman about to enter an abortion clinic…in an effort to talk her out of aborting the baby."
posted by T. Scott Brineman at 9:09 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home