Anti-abortion politics
Bush denies Afghan women aid
By Sue Davis
Remember last October when President Bush swore to lead the
United States into battle to free Afghan women from the tyranny
of the Taliban?
Remember that First Lady Laura Bush was so upset about rabid
fundamentalists denying women basic health care needs that she
magnanimously invited some Afghan women to tea?
All that's history. The crocodile tears the Bushes shed for
Afghan women have been dried by anti-abortion politics.
In January Congress approved a $34-million stipend to the
United Nations Population Fund. The fund, as part of its
services, supplies soap, clean underwear and sanitary napkins
to Afghan women in refugee camps. Even though Bush had already
signed the bill, he refused to allow the State Department to
release the funds after anti-abortion fanatics screamed that
the UN family planning workers promote forced abortion and
sterilization. In fact, the fund supports treatment for women
suffering complications from unsafe abortions, but does not
perform abortions.
Even Secretary of State Colin Powell has more than once
tried to appease the anti-abortion forces by clearing the UN
fund of such allegations. He stated, according to Newsday, that
the work of the fund is "fully consistent with overall U.S.
efforts in developing countries to raise the standard of
living, reduce poverty and lessen disparities of wealth among
countries."
But that didn't satisfy the right wing. So the basic health
care needs of Afghan women refugees are still being denied by
extreme fundamentalists. Only now the zealots are home grown in
the U.S.A. and headed by President Bush himself, who only used
world sympathy for Afghan women as an excuse to carry out a
murderous imperialist invasion of the country.
Reprinted from the April 11, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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