War
On Terror, War On Women
By Heather Wokusch
10 March, 2007
Countercurrents.org
"On
September 11, we saw clearly that evil exists in this world, and that
it does not value life ... Now we are engaged in a fight against evil
and tyranny to preserve and protect life." - Bush in 2002, linking
abortion rights with terrorism, as he declared the 29th anniversary
of Roe v. Wade to be "National Sanctity of Human Life Day."
Under Bush, the US has become
more militaristic and less tolerant of diplomacy and dissent. Women's
rights have deteriorated accordingly.
Sabotaging programs for women
has become something of a sport for this administration - in fact, one
of Bush's first acts as president was to shut down the White House Office
for Women's Initiatives and Outreach. Among other activities, the office
had monitored policy initiatives and coordinated federal programs affecting
women.
Bush then tried to close
the Department of Labor Women's Bureau regional offices, thus prohibiting
women from learning about their legal rights in the workplace.
Most recently, the administration
took revenge on the Office of Women's Health, presumably because it
had backed scientific research supporting the emergency contraceptive
Plan B. Previous attempts to punish the office had included appointing
a veterinarian as its director (speaks volumes, Bush wanted an animal
doctor to be in charge of US women's health), but two weeks ago, the
hammer fell. The Women's Health Office learned that its budget for this
year would be slashed by 25%, thus threatening ongoing operations and
research into everything from menopause to birth control.
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 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
of 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/
.