Bush Imposes Gag Rule
On January 25, 2001, on his first business day in office (and the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing a woman's right to an abortion), President George W. Bush stupidly re-imposed the Global Gag Rule on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) population program. This policy restricts foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive USAID family planning funds from using their own, non-U.S. funds to provide legal abortion services, lobby their own governments for abortion law reform, or even provide accurate medical counseling or referrals regarding abortion. See what damage he is doing! The 1973 Helms Amendment is a legislative provision that already restricts U.S. funds from being used for these activities, but Bush had to get involved for political purposes.
About 2 million women die every year from unsafe abortions, a statistic that could be virtually eliminated by the provision of appropriate health information and services and law reform efforts. Despite this, President Bush's Executive Memorandum directs USAID "to reinstate in full all of the requirements of the Mexico City Policy in effect on January 19, 1993." According to this policy, foreign organizations--often the only health care providers in remote, rural areas--are prohibited from using their own, non-U.S. funds for:
* providing legal abortions even, can you believe, where a woman's physical or mental health is endangered (the only exceptions are in cases of rape, incest, or where the woman's life is endangered);
* providing advice and information regarding the availability and benefits of abortion and from providing referrals to another health clinic;
* lobbying their own governments to legalize abortion, to maintain current law and oppose restrictions, or to decriminalize abortion; and
* conducting public education campaigns regarding abortion.
In addition, even the provision of services that are "permitted"1 on paper, such as life-saving abortions and post-abortion care, are often curtailed because NGOs fear jeopardizing their funding through any association with abortion - what cowardice!! Providers may even be reluctant to dispense emergency contraception--which acts to prevent pregnancy and is not an abortifacient (despite the lies you may hear from the antichoice groups and the Catholic Church --because of the Global Gag Rule.
I think the poem might have been written by a male but adapted by a
The current issues concerning a woman’s right to an abortion include the debates between pro-life and pro-choice groups that promote either restrictions or extensions to a woman’s ability to receive abortions respectively, along with debate about the role that the government should play in the process of limiting or extending rights. Pro-life groups argue many points against abortion including the beliefs that life begins at conception, adoption is a viable alternative to abortion, the procedures sometimes cause medical complications, a...
... women out of illegal abortion clinics where their life would be in danger. As the
On August 16, 1984 an international conference regarding population was held in Mexico City. It was at this conference that the Reagan Administration implemented the “Mexico City Policy”, also known and the Global Gag Rule. This policy stated that Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) would be prohibited from receiving United States funds if they performed, promoted, referred or counseled patients on abortion. The funds would be withheld from the NGOs even if the money used for abortion services were non-U.S. funds. This policy was in effect from 1984-1993 when president Bill Clinton came into office. On January 22, 2001 president George Bush reinstated the Mexico City Policy. There has been much debate over whether the policy is helping or hurting those abroad. Many people in the United States are not aware that the Mexico City Policy is in effect, or even what it is. It is very important that people here are aware of how the government is controlling health care and women’s rights in other countries.
...here is now a ban on partial-birth abortion in the United States, passed in March 2003.
A woman who does not feel welcome or safe may not seek medical care, even if she decides to have an abortion. Some women "terminate their pregnancies by whatever means are available to them, even if it is against the law, unsafe, and might result in complications" (Oduro, 2014, p.920). This demonstrates the importance of respecting a patient 's autonomy, as the patient who has decided to end a pregnancy will do so without assistance if denied the right to do so safely with medical professionals. Though some may consider the fetus to be a patient it is the mother that is able to make decisions and who must be cared for as well. Shunning women asking for abortions "defies our very role as a nurse to prevent illness, promote and restore health and alleviate suffering" (Smyth, 2016, p.117) as it will cause the woman more distress and possibly have a negative effect on her
Illegal abortions performed in unsafe conditions contribute to a great number of deaths every year. According to Wendy Wanlund, “In 1930, illegal abortion was the official cause of death for nearly 2,700 women, or 18 percent of childbirth-related deaths recorded that year” (Abortion Debates). In the more than four decades since Roe v. Wade was decided, thousands of American women’s lives have been saved by access to legal abortion care. Furthermore, making abortions illegal would force women to go about terminating their unwanted pregnancies with unsafe procedures. Every year, millions of women in the developing world are treated for complications from unsafe pregnancy termination. These complications can include heavy bleeding, infection and sepsis, as well as more severe conditions, such as lacerations or uterine perforation, that can put a woman 's life at risk. Lack of access to abortion clinics does not result in fewer abortions, it results in unsafe and illegal abortions.
The aftermath of Roe vs. Wade, when Jane Roe successfully had abortion legalized in various places, many abortion clinics all over the country sprung up. Clinics like Planned Parenthood and NARAL “sought to give the right meaning by ensuring both the newly legal abortion would be accessible and that women seeking abortions would not be victimized by inflated prices or untrained doctors performing unsafe office abortions” (Tribe 142). There are many reasons women seek abortion. Many pro-choice people say that a rape victim should not have to give birth to her attacker’s child, and to do so is attacking ...
Some important leaders support legal abortion. For example, the President of the United States, Barack Obama. President Obama is pro-abortion and pro-choice. Within 60 days of his inauguration he brought up his viewpoints on abortion. Even though Obama supports, the federal funds will not pay for the abortion. He says that the states will use their own funds through their medicaid programs to pay for the abortions ( Annas, Doc 6). Some states like North Dakota don’t cover abortion services unless rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother (Pickert, Doc 10). Obam...
...here abortion was permitted only to save a woman's life contained about 20 per cent of the world's population. Countries with moderately restrictive laws—abortions permitted to protect a woman's health, to end pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, to avoid genetic or congenital defects, or in response to social problems such as unmarried status or low income—contained some 40 per cent of the world's population. Abortions at the woman's request, usually with limits based on physical conditions such as duration of pregnancy, were allowed in countries with nearly 40 per cent of the world's population. In the United States, legislation followed the world trend.
The government is now getting involved against abortions by trying to make abortions illegal in America. President Bush has signed a law that bans partial birth abortion. Troy Newman, the director of Operation Rescue, says that there is still a loop hole in this law. He says “it fallaciously includes a loop-hole exception to save the mother’s life that many abortionists have routinely abused when included in other legislation.” The government getting involved is a great thing. Making abortions illegal is bound to make the rate of abortion lower. Newman also includes in his article “Baby Steps to Victory” that there are other things to do with a child if the mother does not want it. He states, “If you are going to deliver a child 90% prior to sucking its brains why not fully deliver the child and place it up fo...
of the difficulty in acceptance. In the first few stanzas the poet creates the impression that she
“It’s a blessed thing that in every stage in every age some one has had the individuality and courage enough to stand by his own convictions.” The part of me that sums up my identity best is not the adjectives given by family, or the faults I find in myself. My identity is my desire to better myself, and my passion for children. My identity is who I want to be and what I do to accomplish my goals My identity is the feelings and emotions I pour into my journal every day, and the way I feel when I do something right. My identity is not what others thing of me or what I think of myself after a bad day. My identity is the love and confidence I have in myslef, and the beauty inside.
Wade 1973, the Supreme Court constitutionalized the laws criminalizing or restricting women's rights and access to abortion. Proponents in support of abortion through this trial failed to acknowledge the criminal sanction in terms of causing death to an unborn child during the birth process of leaving the mother’s uterus. Pro-life supporters counteracted these acknowledgments, however, highlighting the idea that it would not be long before the same influences used to validate killing an unborn child would be used in the same respect to rationalize killing those alive. With partial-birth abortion still legally in effect within the United States, questions are being raised in terms of how far Congress will actually allow this to go and by what circumstances it will essentially be considered illegal (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Carmen, Irin. “Abortion Bans with Exceptions for Rape Are Hypocritical.” Opposing Viewpoints in Context. 2012. Web. 13 Jan. 2014