Get News & Views Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Once Again, It’s Not Just Abortion: The Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Global Gag Rule
You've undoubtedly heard about the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation's disastrous decision to cut off nearly $700,000 in funding for Planned Parenthood last week. Disastrous for them, that is. Within days, Komen was backpedaling in the face of massive outrage by Planned Parenthood supporters. 
At first, the Foundation claimed its decision was because of a new shift in policy, cutting funding for any organization under investigation by the government. Then they claimed it was because Planned Parenthood does not directly provide mammograms.
None of these claims could conceal the reality that this was a calculated and politically-motivated move to attack Planned Parenthood because of its vital work to provide abortions. (Others have provided more details about the ideological roots of the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision: see here.)
But I was furious, along with millions of other people, because once again, anti-abortion ideology was used to undermine women’s right to abortion as well as the right to health care in general. Komen-style scorched-earth strategies aiming to shut down Planned Parenthood for providing abortion simultaneously target many other essential women’s health services.
Abortions make up only 3 percent of all the services provided by Planned Parenthood. The rest include annual check-ups, birth control, and yes, breast cancer screenings. These services are often conveniently ignored by anti-choice activists bent on attacking abortion rights. And let’s not ignore the reality that access to abortion is an indispensable part of women’s reproductive choice.
I remember another time funding was used as a weapon in the arsenal of anti-choice activists. Last week’s debacle brought back ugly memories of the Global Gag Rule. That’s an on-again off-again US foreign policy that has barred organizations that received US funds from counseling, referring or providing information on abortion. That rule was reversed by President Obama upon taking office, but it’s still waiting in the wings for any future anti-choice President.
Because of the Global Gag Rule, under the Bush and other Republican administrations, clinics that lost funding were forced to shut down. In communities in the world’s poorest countries, health care providers were faced with a painful choice. They could give up on offering information about abortion (few offered abortion services in the first place) and end their advocacy for safe, legal abortion in their country. Or they could risk losing the funding that helped them stay afloat and provide—not just reproductive health services—but a full range of desperately-needed care to poor women and their families. Women lost in every scenario.
And women, starting with the poorest, will keep losing until we realize that women deserve the full range of reproductive rights, including abortions. Last week, a PR debacle forced the Susan G. Komen Foundation to reverse its terrible decision. But anti-choice activists and policies are still a threat to women receiving reproductive care, in the US and around the world.
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
16 Comments so far
Show AllThe struggle goes on. And it has implications for poor people generally, not just women. The same forces behind the villification and destruction of ACORN are behind the attempt to destroy Planned Parenthood. They are taking aim at progressive organizations that directly serve poor people and also are active in elections. There was a good article on this site this week about it.
"this was a calculated and politically-motivated move to attack Planned Parenthood because of its vital work to provide abortions" Right there, you see why progressives will lose if they don't change their messaging. Planned parenthood doesn't do vital work to provide abortions (which to most equates to killing babies), they provide needed assistance to women everywhere, especially the poor, just as Jesus would want. We need to take Jesus away from the righties. When we help the needy we're doing the Lords work. When the conservatives try to stop us they're showing their hate and contempt of Jesus.
I see your point. What the righties are trying to do, essentially, is throw the baby out with the bath water.
Separate the two and there will be progress for women. How about an organization provides services to promote the health of women with a focus on the poor women of this country. Provide:cancer screenings, breast exams, education, cancer treatments, medicines for health concerns... focus on the woman. Donors from the left and right, religious and non-religious would come pouring in. Add abortion to the mix and it becomes a political football and the REAL health of the woman is left behind... people contribute for the political ideology or don't for the same reason... women lose.
And please note Common Dreams posters, that here is an issue where there is a huge difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. Reversing the Global Gag Rule was one of Obama's first acts upon taking office. You don't think a Republican President will reverse it again? And attempt to cut off more funding to Planned Parenthood? Remember next time someone says there is no difference between Presidents and/or the two parties.
Clinton did the same thing. There is a huge difference there, you are right. And there are others. Just not enough, given our decades-long disastrous national trajectory, to justify voting (D) or (R).
The underlying fallacy in your assertion regarding the "big difference" between Dem and Repubs: if there were a mobilized, pro-women, pro-health majority among the Democrats and especially, the "leaders" of the Dems in Congress, they would be able to overturn or block the gag rule. But, being Dems, they don't. Instead we get flannel-mouthed muttering from Harry Reid and bobble-head-toy posturing from Nancy Pelosi - but no action. Too busy trying to placate the cynical Blue Dogs, most of whom likely don't give a rat's ass one way or another about abortion, but do care about snagging anti-choice campaign contributors and voters in their reactionary districts. If the party "leadership" would crack the whip and the party would stand up, even a women-loathing asshole like W would not be able to pull this crap. Not without a fight anyway.
My point - vote for Obama on this basis if you must, but don't fool yourself into thinking that protects you or the women of the world against the gag rule or Komen-style dirty tricks.
Tramaker, You make a false argument by stating that we say there is no difference between Presidents and/or the two parties.
Whether someone says those exact terms or not, it is not meant to be literal, as there are not only differences between Repubs and Dems, but between Repubs and Repubs as well as Dems and Dems. The argument is that both parties are so much aligned on major policies and both parties are so bad that voting for either is cutting your own throat. Your "literal" interpretation is only an attempt to use exaggeration to build your case.
Obama expanded the so-called war on terror after he entered office, Obama effectively pardoned those in the Bush Administration for their misdeeds including supporting torture, Obama completely disregarded the Consitition in the war on Libya, Obama initiated a new level of destruction for Social Security with the payroll tax cut, Obama was silent when Israel assassinated an American Gaza flotilla member at nearly point blank range, it is Obama's legislation that is going to force Americans to get ripped off even more by insurance companies, and the Democrats supported Bush's war on Iraq, supported Bush's tax cuts and Obama followed up by extending and expanding the tax cuts (including on the rich)..., so you are going to have to do more convincing than provide a the nugget of information goodness regarding reversing the gag rule to convince us that Democrats are worth voting for.
I posted this link on the other Komen thread, so in case you missed it:
www.hsionline.com/2010/12/22/komen-attacks-for-the-cure/
Except for supporting breast cancer screening, the Komen Foundation is money down a pit. As many others have pointed out, it's the environmental toxins, the diet and I will add the vitamin d deficiency that is the cause of much breast cancer.
Might as well give money directly to Planned Parenthood
The sexless leaders of the catholic church are crying that Obama is waging a war on Christians. The catholic leaders have been waging a brutal deadly war on women for centuries. If what Obama is doing giving women equal health insurance coverage is war against Christians then it is a defensive war to protect women. I remember when catholics did not get elected because it was feared that the pope would control U.S. policy. When I hear about republicans wanting to ban birth control I realize that if they keep it up and especially if they ban vasectomies, catholics will once again lose elections. Will American men allow the republicans control of their sexual organs if male sterilization is banned?
Your hatred of Catholics is what is wrong with progressives today. The Catholic church is the source of many progressive cornerstones: health care, workers rights, schools, religious freedom, oh yes and personal freedom... You seem to be a radically fascist liberal focused upon the destruction of personal freedoms and the freedom of religion.
What medical condition or disease does a vasectomy cure or prevent? NONE
What medical condition disease does an abortion cure or prevent? NONE
The same is true why most insurance now does not pay for circumcisions... there is NO medical necessity...
As much as pregnancy is not a pre-existing condition it is not a disease either.
Why don’t you set up a non-profit organization that collects money from donors and buys abortions, birth control and distribute them for free… Support your own cause with your own efforts... FORCING people to support your ways is not progressive at all. Perhaps if you did something to support your own cause it would take away from your real motive to spread lies and hatred of Catholics.
Seems your hatred of Catholics is more aligned with the 1920's KKK. Your rabid attempts to distort Catholic teaching will lead people to the same hatred and radical attack on everyone’s rights.
Each year around 330,000 pregnant women enter PP facilites and 90% of them abort their infants. So much for providing women with a range of meaningful choices. They have repeatedly lobbied for the continuation of prohibiting any legal protection prior to birth, including the safeguarding of the killing of viable infants. Their facilities have been caught covering up sexual abuse. They've even lobbied against laws that try to prevent sex selection in which female infants are aborted for the crime of being female. Interesting take on being "pro-woman." When Komen stopped funding PP, they put themselves ahead of women's health by calling for a boycott of Komen. There is nothing noble or progressive about Planned Parenthood.
I went to Planned Parenthood for years before I had private health insurance : yearly checkups and preventive cancer screening since I am a DES child. I was very grateful for PP's services; I received quality care by the nurse-practitioners and mds, and they were respectful towards me, as well.
I don't personally know of someone who had an abortion there, but I do know several women who have had abortions. In one case, the woman was raped at 18 years old. Another woman had a faulty pregnancy where her life would have been at risk, and the baby would have had major problems. Others chose to abort because the time wasn't right in their life (man wasn't going to stick around; the woman was too young, etc). The point is, it's easy to judge when you're not the one facing it.
Below is a link to some stories of women / parents who did abort after realizing that their child would have suffered too much to go through the birthing process:
http://www.aheartbreakingchoice.com/24Weeks/After24Weeks.aspx
So, it's really not the black-and-white issue that you might think. And PP has helped many men and women, including me....
Great comments. Nice to know that there are still progressives with a soul.
"Throughout the Komen imbroglio, PP circulated another misleading statistic – that only 3 percent of PP’s services involve abortions. As Charlotte Allen revealed in a 2007 Weekly Standard essay, that figure is, well, inventive. They arrive at that number by counting every service individually. When a client comes in for an abortion, she gets a pregnancy test (one service), a pelvic exam (second service), an STD test (third service), a breast exam (fourth service), a package of contraceptives (fifth service) and so forth. But calculated as a percentage of revenue generated, abortion accounts for about a third of PP’s business.
And 1 of out 3 clients who walk into a PP clinic is there for a pregnancy test. A third of those go on to have abortions".
Mona Charen
"The Fashion Show" from Fellini's ROMA (1972):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYzRL9YIswQ