Congress repeals the Global Gag Rule!
Not only did the bill I wrote about yesterday pass the Senate, they also passed an amendment fully repealing the Global Gag Rule. Bush has promised a veto -- even though he supposedly supports contraception for "responsible adults" and polls show that over 70 percent of Americans support USAID-funded family-planning efforts.
Still, it's a huge symbolic victory. Props to Sen. Barbara Boxer for working so hard to repeal the Gag Rule, which has killed so many women in the developing world:
The destructiveness of the gag rule is hard to overstate. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 500,000 women in developing countries die each year from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Of those, roughly 70,000 die from back-alley abortions. And aid restrictions have hurt those groups best positioned to help. In Kenya, for example, two health organizations have had to shut down eight clinics since 2001 after proving unable to abide by the gag rule and losing their USAID funding. Many of those clinics were the sole providers of health care for women and children in their respective regions, and most had offered post-abortion care--critical in a country where abortion is illegal, unsafe, and causes an estimated one-third of maternal deaths annually.
Lots for Bush to be proud of. Ugh.
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I hate to say it won't get passed the veto, but it probably won't. Reality needs to quit being so disappointing.
If he keeps his head in the sand, he'll never have to question the remarkable moral and practical failures he's responsible for.
Getting tired of this shit....6 years and counting. What if people elect another Republican in 2008 (a Bush lite, no doubt, like Mitt Romney, and all the rest who have now shifted from "anti-abortion" to "anti-contraception?"
I hate this country so much some times...
Hey, I'll take a symbolic victory over the Senate failing to pass the bill.
I am not gonna rejoice until the Global Gag Rule is 86ed completely.
We have the opportunity to win a major victory in Oregon by defeating US Sen. Gordon Smith.
He has repeatedly voted for (and cosponsored) the Federal Abortion Ban
He voted against lifting the ban that forbids U.S. servicewomen from obtaining abortion services
If you have friends or family in Oregon, please let them know about the campaign to Stop Gordon Smith. Help spread the word- post the link to StopGordonSmith.com on your blog, your Facebook and MySpace profiles, and anywhere else you like.
We need Senators who stand up for women’s rights. Join today.
http://www.stopgordonsmith.com/2007/08/be_the_voice.html
We have the opportunity to win a major victory in Oregon by defeating US Sen. Gordon Smith.
He has repeatedly voted for (and cosponsored) the Federal Abortion Ban
He voted against lifting the ban that forbids U.S. servicewomen from obtaining abortion services
If you have friends or family in Oregon, please let them know about the campaign to Stop Gordon Smith. Help spread the word- post the link to StopGordonSmith.com on your blog, your Facebook and MySpace profiles, and anywhere else you like.
We need Senators who stand up for women’s rights. Join today.
http://www.stopgordonsmith.com/2007/08/be_the_voice.html
It really sickens me that Bush has all that power to just veto something. It really really bothers me. One person should not have that much power, I don't care who he/she is. And another thing, it really sickens me how these stupid republican ass wipes are sooo caught up in other people's reproductive plumbing. What the hell is up with that!
But maybe his veto will will make this a more prominent wedge issue in campaigns. I'm all for making candidates state their position on things like this and stop hiding.
Things have been so shockingly dismal for so long that the shock of just how dismal they are has worn off. I just expect it now.
I think maybe I could be described as demoralized.
I am astonished and delighted at this progress, symbolic and tenuous though it may be.
@Peepers: exactly.
Re-spin Vietnam? Limit S-Chip (Bush loves fetuses...fuck the kids!)? Allow in vitro fertilization but piss on stem cell research? Sure, sure, sure!
What awful people, all of them. They bear only poisonous fruit.
I'm hanging between rejoicing and crying. It's a victory, but with Bush at the helm one that won't make it far.
What's missing in this entire debate is a discussion of the Constitution. After all, where the U.S. Constitution give the Federal government the authority to spend money on USAID or any other form of foreign aid?
Thank god this passed. I was really worried that Brownback and co. would prevent it from getting passed. The Democratic majority in the Senate is very slim, and passes are no sure thing. It's amazing how Brownback can just lie up there on the floor when he's describing the content of the amendment. Perhaps what's even more sad is the number of people who just buy his lies at face value. I am unsure if this could survive a veto. At least a few Republicans voted for it (such as Arlen Specter). Let's hope those numbers keep going up on common sense legislation such as this.