The administration often uses funding as a weapon against women’s
programs, both at home and abroad. Quickly after assuming office, for
example, Bush brought back Reagan’s much-maligned “gag” rule, which
prohibits healthcare providers abroad from receiving US funding, even
if they spend their own money in counseling women about abortion or in
providing abortion services. For developing countries struggling with
HIV/AIDS, the gag rule’s return has meant a double whammy: reduced
access to USAID-supplied contraceptives and condoms plus the closure of
healthcare clinics critical to local populations.
The administration has also defunded the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA), which works in over 140 countries supporting maternal-health
and family-planning programs, as well as fighting HIV/AIDS and violence
against women. The administration has claimed that UNFPA was involved
in coercive reproductive health practices in China – a charge a State
Department investigation proved false.
Such funding cuts have had predictably tragic consequences. The respected British medical journal Lancet notes that
more than 500,000 women die each year from
“often preventable” pregnancy complications</A> and that “women's
health rapidly improves when abortion is made legal, safe, and easily
accessible but this is not an option for many women.” According to
Lancet, “An estimated 90% of deaths from unsafe abortions and 20% of
obstetric mortality could be avoided with improved access to
contraception … Yet the latest figures show that donor funding for
family planning has decreased by 36%.”
Unfortunately, the administration’s FY2008 budget promises more of the
same: hundreds of billions of dollars for war with corresponding
reductions in programs benefiting women.
So as we observe International Women’s Day, it’s up to those of us
lucky enough to live in relative freedom and financial security to link
the Bush administration’s focus on achieving goals through war and
weaponry with the inevitable cutbacks to social programs benefiting
women and children. And it’s up to us to demand that the administration
pursue diplomacy with Iran, rather than a disastrous military strike.
After all, the US and Iran have a lot in common. Unlike most other
countries across the globe, neither has ratified the UN Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Action tips:
1. Join the International Women’s Day celebration at
www.internationalwomensday.com
2.Here are some great sites focused on women and peace
Feminist Peace Network
www.feministpeacenetwork.org
Code Pink — Women’s Pre-emptive Strike for Peace
www.codepink4peace.org/
Coalition of Women for Peace
http://coalitionofwomen.org/home
Gather the Women
www.gatherthewomen.org/gtw/index.htm
Grandmothers against the War
http://grandmothersagainstthewar.org/
Madre
www.madre.org/
Peace Women
www.peacewomen.org/
UNIFEM’s portal on Women, Peace and Security
www.womenwarpeace.org/
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
www.wilpf.org/
Heather Wokusch is the author of
The Progressives’ Handbook: Get the Facts and Make a Difference Now, Volumes I and II. She can be reached at
www.heatherwokusch.com and can be seen discussing rollbacks in women’s rights under Bush (and many other topics) at
www.youtube.com/heatherwokusch.
Writings 
Under Bush, the US has become more militaristic and less tolerant of diplomacy and dissent. Women’s rights have deteriorated accordingly.
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