Bush Imposes Gag Rule :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Bush Imposes Gag Rule   On January 25, 2001, on his first business day in office (and the twenty-eighth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing a womans right to an abortion), chairman 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, tap 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 wellness information and services and law reform efforts. Despite this, President Bushs 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 unaccompanied health c ar 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 womans physical or mental health is endangered (the only exceptions are in cases of rape, incest, or where the womans 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 compensate restrictions, or to decriminalize abortion and * conducting public education campaigns regarding abortion.   In addition, eve n the provision of services that are permitted1 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 observe 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.