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Obama Reverses Global Gag Rule
The order comes the day after the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States.
Planned Parenthood supporters rally in 2005. US President Barack Obama on Thursday said he backed a woman's "right to choose" on the 36th anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court decision that women have a constitutional right to abortion. (AFP/Getty Images/File/David McNew) It reverses the "Mexico City policy," initiated by President Reagan in 1984, canceled by President Clinton and reinstated by President George W. Bush in 2001.
The policy, referred to by critics as "the global gag rule," was initially announced at a population conference in Mexico City.
Reversing the previous administrations' stance on the policy was one of Clinton's first acts as president in January 1993 and the very first executive order issued by Bush on January 22, 2001, the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
Critics, including Planned Parenthood, called Bush's move a "legislative ambush."
He defended his action, saying, "It is my conviction that taxpayer funds should not be used to pay for abortion or actively promote abortion."
The group Population Action International praised Obama's move, saying in a statement that it will "save women's lives around the world."
"Family planning should not be a political issue; it's about basic health care and well-being for women and children," it said. "Women's health has been severely impacted by the cutoff of assistance. President Obama's actions will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, abortions and women dying from high-risk pregnancies because they don't have access to family planning."
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33 Comments so far
Show AllOh yyyyyyyyeeeeesssssssssss, I've waited for this. Believed it would come as I sensed BHO's soul. A real HUMAN BEING WITH A HEART for the president of my country.
I am so gd grateful, oh sweet JC, Thank You. The Republicans, with a lot of D help, Wrecked my country, went after the Earth, Women, The Poor, The World.....
BHO. Yes. Freedom of choice for women. Gays. (and marijuana smoking fools like me too???)
RightOn.
'Left'...!ARM!...
shhgg
};@~
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Mere anarchy?
Anarchy is the way, the truth and the life.
"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."-Thomas Jefferson
Good for Obama, that's a little bit of "change we can believe in", can't say the same about foreing policy though.
The Bush administration had barred U.S. money from going to the fund, contending that work in China supported a Chinese family planning policy of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization. UNFPA has vehemently denied that it does.
*China does need a lot more abortions.
Too many people is a bad thing.
Those fundies wanted more people in China and India so that they could be the future slaves of "cheap" shit, courtesy of "free" trade scams.
Ok, a plus. Thank you President Obama. Now let's do better on the foreign policy and economic fronts.
Thanks President Obama.
One thing I noticed here in DC there were lots of Prolife Protesters out of nowhere the past two days on the National Mall. They use mostly Catholic School teenagers in thier protests and bus them in directly from their schools. Its creepy....most of these kids haven't a clue on this issue and they act like this is a field trip.
Using teenagers to do the protesting is a sure-fire way to keep them and more povertized and dumbed down as much as possible. I wouldn't be surprised if these same kids supported sending our troops in harm's way to Iraq, Afghanistan, and likely Pakistan and Iraq.
By the way, one of my coworker's son works in DC and I here that the traffic in that area is getting worse thanks to the lower gas prices. And he tells me that his son shocked him by saying that in DC, there is no recession because everyone spends like crazy and clogs the highway. What's going on there?
There isn't much of a recession here because jobs are secure as everyone works in gov't or if they work in the private sector or NGO sector the organizations they work for are gov't contractors. There is still a housing bubble here and prices have fallen 20% which is a good and they still need to fall. I noticed there are less people taking metro so there probably are more drivers on the road again. However, if the economy really tanks and gov't cuts spending then this place will be hit hard with the recession.
That's interesting. The guy I told you about who works in DC lives in Fredericksburg, VA which is supposed to be 50 minutes away from DC assuming that there is no traffic. I heard all about the biggest foreclosure increases in the surrounding DC suburbs in Northern VA, particularly Prince William and Loudoun counties. He was considering buying a home there so that he could be a little closer to work but the prices were too high for him to afford. I take it that like everywhere else public transportation in Washington is about as privatized as can be, correct? He takes the train to work since his company pays for his transportation expenses. He would have been driving on I-95 otherwise and I'll bet the traffic there isn't any better. I hear that people as far out as West VA travel to Washington to work despite the distance. I used to live in Glouster County, VA before I moved to TX 13 years ago so I don't know how things have changed in that state. I can only imagine that the closer to DC one's job is at, the more secure otherwise more people will resort to desperate measures such as signing up in the army or even relying on housing values to increase to try to make a profit out of it all. I take it that the elite class wants more of this anarchy so they'll resort to crimes such as that global gag.
However, I will say those who work in the service sector and consumer economy here the resteraunt owners, the car dealership folks, the retailers are all cutting back and hemorraging money and jobs. So it is tough for blue collar workers here as elsewhere in the US. Some white collar jobs are also starting to be cut.
There are some sectors that will not be impacted by the economy at all. The defense sector is doing really well of course given the Iraq war. Unfortunatly K street is rolling in the dough just as thier comrades on Wall Steet are in NYC---ughhh. Obama has talked about going after the lobbyists lets hope he does.
Actually Public Transportation here in DC is cheap, fantastic, clean, reliable and much easier then driving. There are even buses one can take to Manasses and Loudon etc. Most companies do pay for transportation expenses. Most public transportation is heavily subsidized and would cost far more if it were privatized.
The protests in DC are potatoes compared to the nastier ones out here in OK. You should see the real rotten and sometimes grusome protests the so-called "pro-lifers" do back here in OK. And get this, once every month, a man kills his wife or teen daughter just because she had an abortion. Sometimes, she won't tell before doing it but often times even when it's an emergency she'll do it against his denial only to return dead. Everytime this is brought up, the anti-abortion and pro-gun gangs join forces and show their nasty rightwing self-righteous behavior in public. It's pathetic that chanting "pro-life" translates to pro-death. Sometimes I wonder if OK is getting worse than Mexico these days.
Wow honor killings over abortions! This is what that is honor killings here in America OMG!
Unfortunately, this kind of insanity is so common out here in Oklahoma that these days, it passes as one liners. And what's more, try talking to these fundies about the killings of women and children in Iraq and Afghanistan and they'll make it look like it's a sign of "progress" on the "war on terror". Trying to talk any sense into these fundies is as "easy" as negotiating with David Korash die-hards.
Well the word should get out about this issue people in DC have no idea this is happening out West with these post abortion honor killings. If they did maybe something could be done about it. I mean I respect the Pro-life stance as long as that person is Pro-life across the board...no death penality, no killing of born human beings, no supporting war and taking innocent life etc. This is what it means to be Pro-life. Everything else becomes hypocritical. \
If there are any newspaper articles on this issue please post them. I'll share them around.
Not a problem. I often get my news on the local channels but I am getting used to getting more from the Internet and hope to pass more info around.
By the way, on the issue of death penalty, it's supported big time in my state. Unfortunately, not all rapists get the death penalty while a greater percentage of women aborting their unintended pregnancies face a greater likelyhood of getting the DP. In fact, up until recently half the rape cases would favor the rapist over the raped one. And then there's the race factor which can result in double standards such as a non-white getting punished for raping a white woman but a white guy getting acquitted 9 out of 10 times for raping a non-white unless it was gruesome beyond recognition. Since the days of preemptive strike in Iraq, every time a woman is raped, she is put on further psychological testing to make sure that she has very little chance in getting rid of her unintended pregnancies due to rape. They call it preemptive inspection and a lot of the federal aid going to the state is spent on these kind of abusive control programs. Worse, if the raped victim is caught for having performed an abortion, she's automatically charged with murder and it's often difficult to prove her innocent despite the fact that it was an unintended pregnancy due to rape. There are some attempts to cut down on these disgusting double standards in the state legislature but sometimes they still continue due to lack of enforcement.
Our state had that honor killing shocker in 1989 and in fact this tragedy was brought up in the Senate in 2006 to try to stop Bill Frist's tyrannical bill of parental notification against teens needing an abortion. Unfortunately, none of these shockers seem to change the "fixed" mind of the senators.
Jason Jordan
Sandpoint, Idaho
Our state had an honor killing back in 1989 where an abusive father who raped his daughter, Spring Adams, and impregnated her shot her to death at the clinic where she was to get an abortion while she was in bed sleeping. The law only required one of the parent's permission. The mother, also killed by the abusive father, granted her daughter permission but Spring was afraid of her abusive father. That tragedy was a shocker back then of course. That tragedy was brought up in a debate bill in 2006 but the Senate voted to make that form of child abuse "legal" anyway. It's amazing that this can be so commonplace in OK but I guess 19 years is plenty of time for all sorts of changes, good or bad.
Jason Jordan
Sandpoint, Idaho
Screw CNN,
did you guys not even see the first paragraph...'promote abortion'....
That is a misrepresentation in and of itself.
The gag rule didn't apply to just mentioning abortion, but any pregnancy prevention. That included talking about condoms and birth control.
It wasn't just abortion, it was the education they prevented people from accessing. "don't talk about pregnancy prevention, or else you lose your money to talk about abstinence." The whole thing was about information...not just abortion, but even discussion of STD transmission. I could get a little conspiracy theory here about the government buying AIDS meds, but I think you see the link.
Now we just have to get Obama to say that Palestinians are people too, and deserve as much right to safe lives as Israelis.
The more peripheral the policy the bigger the changes Obama will bring, but US militarism and imperialism will continue.
The main reason militarism and imperialism keep going on are two things. In the case of Iraq, it's about oil. But even for countries where there's no oil, we're a nation of people who love to play tough and almighty because the macho maniacal madness is fed to us all from childhood on up and it is tough to control the urge to go to war and kill. I learned my lesson the hard way after losing my limbs in Vietnam. Unfortunately, one of my nephews who grew up in a neighborhood and his school where military almightyness was so pervasive also got addicted to war video games and even became a Marine only to die in Afghanistan in 2003. And it was tough getting him to even reconsider. Even when I told him the lessons I learned from Vietnam, he would say "Oh but today's military is bigger, better, and stronger and you should be proud that Reagan strengthened the military against the commies !" His wife had a mixed view but after his death, she became strongly pro-peace and ended up marrying his peace-nik brother who used to be teased as a "girl in a boy's body". We need to keep the pressure on reducing militarism and imperialism both in the business and political realms.
JWVerez thank you for sharing that. I feel for the huge sacrifice you made and your indescribable losses. I am really sorry.
I agree with the basic macho premise, but that is only for the grunts. As you know the military is under civilian rule and most of our presidents, including the current one, have never fought in any war.
To me they are chicken-hawks, and in this regard Barak is no better than Bush. Having never witnessed the horrors of war themselves, they are keen to send someone else's son or daughter to die for the profits of the few.
I do not believe the US has ever been involved in a military engagement where either money or geopolitical interests were not involved. It's not like they are a bunch of wild cowboys looking for a fight. Some of the troops may be, but the leaders that send them off are looking to profit. That is a simple explanation of imperialism.
"I do not believe the US has ever been involved in a military engagement where either money or geopolitical interests were not involved. It's not like they are a bunch of wild cowboys looking for a fight. Some of the troops may be, but the leaders that send them off are looking to profit. That is a simple explanation of imperialism."
You got that right 100%. My great great grandparents have written volumes writing all about the business scams the US Government placed against the folks living in the reservations, now Oklahoma. And I'm not even talking about the extra records of genocide the US government wrought on these natives shoved into the reserves similar to the Israeli forces shackling the Palestinians into Gaza. Even today, rampant racism exists even amongst those who have Native Indian blood. If there's one thing I can say about imperialism, it's that the day it dies off the face of this planet is the day the US and UK die as well.
When it comes to the Marines especially, the saying "Once a Marine, always a Marine" never dies.
What is ironic, my friend, is that I am a former Marine. I am very anti-militarism now, but when I was young I was one of those stupid cowboys from hell that just wanted to kick-ass and nuke any nation that dared to not bow to our will. It takes a while to shake off the indoctrination and brainwashing.
Hi Ric,
Thanks for sharing your experience as a former Marine. In my state, it's so "easy" to dupe young boys and girls into signing up and even after finishing college, there are always more military contractor job offers while jobs in other fields are disappearing to outsourcing and insourcing illegal foreign labor for near slave wages. The education in my state is pathetic with loads of bible thumping, gun-toting patriotism, and viewing bad CEOs as "GOD" as part of the curriculm. And then there's all this stupid macho athletic crap to go around.
Wow, at least here the responses aren't so high compared to my deep red conservative place. Check out the frothing rightwing responses back here in Tulsa that I keep reading.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=338&articleid=20090123_338_0_WASHIN745708
By the way, people in Oklahoma show their strong support of abortion when it comes to blacks, latinos, and Native American Indians but otherwise, like gun control, people will waste more time and energy railing against it. And tell them about the war and you'll get called "unpatriotic" or even labelled "terrorist" for not supporting Dubya or Israel ! Yep, it's hell out here on OK but I'm not giving up.
Sorry to hear you are surrounded by a bunch of Bush-supporting, ignorant hicks.
No problem. I'm just glad Mccain didn't win. I voted Obama despite not a single county going for him but then that's OK, a flaming red Repug state even in these worst of times. I do apologize for my state sending looney brains such as Colbert and Inhofe to the Senate as well as the reps in the House from my state. I can't say Dan Boren is much better. I don't know much about Obama but know he's not as rough and cruel as Bush and Mccain. I'll give him 4 years to show his worth and see how it goes. I do admire Obama's patience, calm, and cool even in these restless times. Like most, we're living in times where we're just going to have to expect little. Good luck to us all.
Wow, what a picture! Keep abortion safe - I mean keep murder safe.
Abortion isn't murder. There is no such thing as murdering what hasn't been born yet !
Jason Jordan
Sandpoint, Idaho
Women taking care of women. That's what the clinic nurse/midwife of the Planned Parenthood of the Rocky MOuntains (Lakewood CO) told me when we first met. She believed in women taking care of women.
Abortion is no man's business. If it were - God would have made is so men were the ones who became pregnant and in Her wisdom, God did not do that.