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Spurious George pissed off a lot of women today (pg. 4)
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| DaveSZ |
| quote: | Originally posted by ::TranceVanDyk::
how are women dying under bush?
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The "global gag rule" is what I was mostly referring to, but then there are also the multitudes of global family planning treaties that have been unilaterally discarded.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/12/12/MNGRE3KKJT1.DTL&type=printable
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Published on Friday, December 12, 2003 by the San Francisco Chronicle
U.S. Policy Blamed for Abortion Deaths in Ethiopia
'Global Gag Rule' Prevents Agencies from Discussing Pregnancy Alternatives
by Gavin du Venage
DUNA, ETHIOPIA -- Yemmi Samta didn't know that her 14-year-old-daughter, Saron, was pregnant until she found her unconscious and bleeding profusely on the dirt floor of her ramshackle house.
Samta begged a neighbor to load Saron onto a donkey cart and take her to the nearest clinic, 12 miles away. But the girl died on the way from septicemia, a form of blood poisoning, and loss of blood caused by an illegal abortion.
"I held her and pleaded to God not to take her," Samta recalled. "God took her to his arms, and I saw the life go from her body."
Saron's death represents a staggering reality about women and mortality in Africa. African women have a 1 in 16 chance of dying while pregnant, according to a report released last month by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Population Fund and UNICEF.
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.
Most family planning groups agree that U.S. administration policy banning abortion services by federally funded agencies -- the "global gag rule" enacted by President Bush during his first days in office -- could not have come at a worse time for Ethiopian women.
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.
"Hospitals tell us they still see many deaths from illegal abortions," said Amare Bedada, executive director of the Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia, a 37-year-old domestic health organization. "If we are going to keep women healthy and alive, we have to provide abortion-related advice."
Abortion is legal only in South Africa, which has one of the continent's lowest maternal mortality rates -- 230 deaths per 100,000 live births compared with an average of 830 per 100,000 for all of Africa.
Given the limited services available, many African health organizations depend on the U.S. Agency for International Development -- Washington's principal vehicle for international funding. But the ban has forced a drastic cutback in services, and Ethiopian aid agencies have been hit especially hard.
"We had to let go staff because we could not afford to keep them," said Sister Yeshiemebet Giorgis, clinic project coordinator for the family planning agency, Marie Stopes International. The London-based group lost U.S. funding for sticking to its belief that abortion counseling is part of providing comprehensive health care. "It was a disaster because abortion is such a feature of this country and so many women need help."
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."
The loss in U.S. financing almost forced the Family Guidance Association to close several clinics. But their 18 clinics, 26 youth centers and 600 community health sites remain open, thanks to the Los Altos-based David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which stepped in to cover the $3.9 million loss.
Bedada said the Packard Foundation kept scores of clinics open in remote regions where indigent women "use herbs, poisons, wire and other methods to induce bleeding. Abortions are often carried out by local women healers who are not well trained."
Health experts say the surge in abortions is because of not only chronic poverty but starvation conditions. According to the World Food Program, 13.2 million Ethiopians needed food aid in 2003 due to a severe drought.
"It is difficult enough to feed yourself under these conditions, let alone five or six children," said Dr. Daniel Leude, district health administrator in North Shoa, about 75 miles north of Addis Ababa, the capital. "The drought has pushed people to confront family planning."
According to a recent study by the Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 45 percent of those seeking abortions are adolescents younger than 18.
"The consequences of an unwanted pregnancy are severe," said Mekikeb Demissie, a youth leader in the village of Duna, 250 miles west of Addis Ababa. "A young girl (who becomes pregnant) will drop out of school. This is a small village, so if a girl is pregnant, everyone will know about it. Often she will throw the child away soon after birth. Or she will try and abort it."
For young women, the trauma of an unwanted pregnancy does not end with the birth of a child.
"A pregnant girl will be thrown out of home and may end up working in a bar as a prostitute," Demissie said. "It is then only a matter of time before she gets the AIDS virus and dies."
Ethiopia has one of the world's highest incidents of HIV, with 8 percent of the population infected. "So an unwanted pregnancy is a death sentence," Demissie said.
Duna -- a village similar to thousands around the country -- has a small health clinic, which serves not only the settlement's 2,000 residents but thousands of peasants from the surrounding countryside. A small, dark room set aside for post-abortion careis furnished with an ancient, cracked leather half-bed with rusted stirrups and an old iron bowl.
"This is where women come for help," said Sara Mekuria, the clinic's nurse. "I get two, maybe more a day. Many more can't get to us in time and die in their villages."
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You could argue that the US no longer has a responsibility to fund the UN population fund that it helped found in the first place, but when the only other nations that side with the US on reproductive health policy (including global treaties) are the Vatican and a few extremist Islamic countries like Iran, I consider that to be quite significant.
In the US the far right (not all!) Fundamentalists do indeed intend to create a state of similar nature to Iran, and that will happen if Bush wins another term. Once the Fundamentalists gain control of the US Supreme Court, freedom and liberty will be stamped out and a state religion imposed.
Since the US is one of the most influential nations in the world, I would argue the people of the world also have much at stake in seeing that the country does not descend into that kind of state. |
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| pyro |
| quote: | Originally posted by Vivid Boy
well he looks like an ewok.. |
thats james holden if i'm not mistaken.
| quote: | | British comedian 'Ali G,' played by actor Sacha Baron Cohen (L), interviews a pro-life demonstrator during a march for women's rights in Washington, April 25, 2004. |
glad to see Ali G in the mix, i'll never forget his amazing interview with world class actress Jenna Jameson. |
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| DaveSZ |
The extremists in the Bush Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are blocking approval of emergency contraception for OTC sale on purely ideological grounds.
It's estimated that unintended pregnancy could be reduced by as much as half in the US if this were made widely available for women OTC.
These people claim to want to reduce the number of abortions, yet they oppose policies that could actually reduce the need for abortion significantly.
(If you look at a country like Holland for example, the rate of abortion is very low).
Their real agenda is crystal clear. Like the Islamic radicals, they oppose sexual intercourse on any and all grounds other than for procreation.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle....790633§ion=news
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Doctors See Politics in Morning-After Pill Delay
by Lisa Richwine
WASHINGTON - Political objections to wider access for a "morning-after pill" may result in restrictions that intimidate women from using the emergency contraceptive, according to an editorial published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The Food and Drug Administration in February announced it was postponing a decision on Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s request to sell the contraceptive, called Plan B, over the counter. A ruling now is expected by May 21.
Plan B can prevent pregnancy when taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse. Opponents of a switch, including several Republican lawmakers, argue easy access to the product may increase sexual promiscuity, particularly among teen-agers.
An FDA advisory panel of outside experts voted 23-4 last December to recommend making Plan B available without a prescription.
The agency's delay in making a final ruling "suggests that the FDA's decision-making process is being influenced by political considerations," said the editorial, written by the journal's editor, Jeffrey Drazen, and two members of the FDA advisory panel.
"The current delay ... may be followed by approval with restrictions on its over-the-counter sale that are designed to intimidate women who require access to this medication," the editorial said.
Limits that have been suggested include a minimum age requirement for purchasers, or putting the medicine "behind the counter" and making women ask a pharmacist for it.
"A treatment for any other condition, from hangnail to headache to heart disease, with a similar record of safety and efficacy would be approved quickly," the editorial said.
An FDA spokesman was not immediately available for comment. FDA officials in the past have insisted the decision will be based on science and not politics.
"There are ongoing discussions on many topics" with the FDA regarding Plan B, Barr spokeswoman Carol Cox said. She declined to provide specifics.
Plan B prevent pregnancy using higher doses of progestin, one of the hormones used in birth control bills.
Shares of Barr fell 79 cents, or 1.63 percent, to close at $47.60 on the New York Stock Exchange.
© Copyright Reuters Ltd2004.
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| pooley |
That's one huge parade :)
as mentioned before, 80% must have been dykes |
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| NeoPhono |
I have no problem with abortion as long as its not used as birth control. If you don't want to have a kid don't get pregnant. If you're raped or a victim of incest fine, but that's less than .5% of all abortions. And the percentage of abortions that are because the mother's life is in question is less than that. I also have no problem with the morning after pill.
If you don't want to face the possible outcome of having a kid when you have sex, then you're not ready to have sex. It's called personal responsibility, something grossly lacking today. |
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| pooley |
1.15 mil?
The news here said 500.000 |
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| Ste |
pro-lifers do my ing nut in.
nice to see theres a lot of people pro-choice out there. |
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| Electronicmaji |
man what a world when protesting for the freedom to murder innocente babies is actaully encouraged....
the wickedness of the world is great... |
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| NeoPhono |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dopey
ok thats just darn smack ;) illogical, why would only LESBIANS be for ABORTION rights? If you still don't get it...WHy would LESBIANS need ABORTIONS?
And 1.15 mil seems a bit exaggerated. |
I guess my attempt at humor was missed. |
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| Dopey |
| quote: | Originally posted by NeoPhono
I guess my attempt at humor was missed. |
no dude im so burnt, i didnt even read the second part of that lol |
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| DaveSZ |
| quote: | Originally posted by NeoPhono
I have no problem with abortion as long as its not used as birth control. If you don't want to have a kid don't get pregnant. If you're raped or a victim of incest fine, but that's less than .5% of all abortions. And the percentage of abortions that are because the mother's life is in question is less than that. I also have no problem with the morning after pill.
If you don't want to face the possible outcome of having a kid when you have sex, then you're not ready to have sex. It's called personal responsibility, something grossly lacking today. |
I'm also against abortion, but it can be reduced by following those steps that I have outlined previously. Making EC available over the counter is one example, and axing "abstinence only" sex ed in schools is another.
I consider that to be the true "pro life" position.;) |
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| DaveSZ |
| quote: | Originally posted by pooley
1.15 mil?
The news here said 500.000 |
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040425/nysu015_1.html
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1,150,000 March on Washington, D.C. to Voice Opposition to Government Attacks on Women's Reproductive Rights and Health
Sunday April 25, 4:43 pm ET
Official Crowd Count Largest Ever for Women's Rights Rally in The Nation's Capitol
WASHINGTON, April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- An estimated 1,150,000 descended on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. today to give an urgent wake-up call to government leaders and the nation-women's lives are at risk and lawmakers stop intruding on a woman's right to access critical reproductive health services and make deeply personal decisions about her health and life.
ADVERTISEMENT
The March for Women's Lives was led by seven organizing groups: American Civil Liberties Union, Black Women's Health Imperative, Feminist Majority, NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Following are highlights excerpted from remarks given by the organization's leaders at the March:
"The government does not belong in our bedrooms. It does not belong in our doctors' offices. It does not belong in the bank accounts of innocent Americans, and should not have the power to monitor their e-mail, or track their bookstore purchases, or scrutinize the books they check out of local libraries," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "Our fundamental right to privacy is under serious attack by this government."
"This historic march is sending an unmistakable message: women's rights and women's lives are non-negotiable," stated Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority. "We are building an expanded and inclusive movement that will make women's reproductive rights-just like social security-a third rail of politics."
"My friends -- make no mistake. There is a war on choice. We didn't start it, but we are going to win it!" said Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "They're not just after abortion rights. This is a full-throttle war on your very health-on your access to real sex education, birth control, medical privacy, and life-saving research."
"My greatest wish is that there would never be another political debate about the right to choose," said Kate Michelman, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "But history teaches us that every right-no matter how basic-is always at risk. And I'm confident that the young people who have lead this march today will lead our movement in a new wave of activism that will keep the right to choose alive for the next generation."
"This March is a giant wake up call," said Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW). "We won't go back to 1968 when women couldn't buy birth control; we won't go back to 1972 when women were dying from illegal abortions. We're marching for our rights before it's too late."
"The reproductive health of Black women is in a state of crisis. Black women are suffering and dying too often, too soon and needlessly," said Dr. Lorraine Cole, president and CEO of the Black Women's Health Imperative. "When we leave here today, let's turn pain into promise, let's turn promise into partnership and let's turn partnership into power."
"We demand an end to coercive and punitive policies that prevent us from making informed decisions about our health, our lives and our futures!" said Silvia Henriquez, executive director of the National Latina Institute of Reproductive Health. "We envision a day when no Latina will live in a climate of fear and oppression, when every person has access to comprehensive and affordable health care. That is reproductive justice!"
Using standard crowd estimate methods, March participants were counted in designated grids on the National Mall, which are designed to hold a predetermined number of people. The March also verified this count by assigning 2,500 volunteers to stand at key entry points to the March area and at bus drop-off locations and count people by placing March stickers on participants as they entered these entry points.
For more information on the March for Women's Lives, visit: www.marchforwomen.org.
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