Since he entered office, President Bush has made it his business to restrict and eliminate women’s rights. The man who said that he would do everything in his power to restrict abortions is indeed carrying out the mandate from the religious right.
The right-wing has made it their first priority to roll back young women’s rights with schemes to restrict abortion, birth control, emergency contraceptives like RU-486 and sex education in schools.
Bush’s first act as president put millions of women at risk with a stroke of a pen. In his first working day in office, Bush cut international family planning funds for organizations to lobby their governments for abortion rights. It is no secret that he wants to repeat the same here by limiting funds to family planning programs in communities across the U.S.
The attacks on young women by the Bush administration – powered by ultra-reactionaries and the religious right – are cause enough to hit the streets and raise hell. Young women especially are feeling the brunt of the attacks. Over half of the women who have abortions are under 25. That's only one reason why we are fighting to “keep abortion safe and legal.� In fact, the majority of all women (and men) support reproductive rights.
The women’s movement and its allies are fighting tooth and nail to protect a woman’s right to privacy and reproductive freedom. Just as generations of women fought before, young women today must continue the militant legacy to preserve reproductive rights on the road to women’s equality.
The right wing has already passed legislation in 29 states that require parental consent for minors who want to have abortions. This not only prolongs pregancy with red tape, but many times forces young women to cross state lines for abortion. Republicans also want to make it a crime for anyone to help a young woman cross state lines to avoid her home state’s abortion laws.
After a decade of delays because of anti-choice reactionaries, in September 2000 the Food and Drug Administration finally approved mifepristone, also known as RU-486, an effective and safe alternative to surgical abortion. The new Health and Human Services Secretary, Tommy Thompson, has already said that he will “revisit� the FDA’s approval of mifespristone.
Republicans in the House have introduced legislation limiting the availability of mifespristone. Young women rely on the availability of mifepristone because it expands women’s options and allows them the right to choose in privacy, making it harder for anti-abortion fanatics to single them out for harassment and intimidation.
Sex education is becoming scarce in public schools along with information on pregancy and emergency contraception pills (ECPs). ECPs are contraceptive measures, not abortion-inducing drugs like mifespristone.
Last session, the Senate passed an amendment introduced by Jesse Helms that blocked access to ECPs for minors in school-based health centers. Studies show that ECPs could cut the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions in half annually. Adolescents are the group most likely not to be covered by health insurance, and school-based health centers are designed for low-income teenagers who live in rural areas that have high poverty rates and have an unequal distribution of health profesionals.
“The Helms amendment is a stark example of the hypocrisy inherent in the position of many anti-choice lawmakers. They oppose abortion, but also oppose efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion,� said NARAL Executive Vice President Alice Germond. “If anti-choice lawmakers really wanted to reduce the number of abortions in this country, they would lead the charge to make emergency contraception more available instead of needlessly curtailing access.�
Dubya lined up the right men to do his dirty work, with the likes of John Ashcroft, who opposes women’s rights in the worst way, as attorney general. The women’s movement put up a serious fight against Ashcroft’s appointment for good reason. Ashcroft opposes all types of abortion, even in cases of rape, incest and danger to women’s health. He also rejects the most popular and effective forms of birth control.
As if this isn’t enough, US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who is the key fifth vote that tips the scales in favor of legal abortion, is expected to retire at the end of this term. Bush has already stated that he supports the likes of Clarence Thomas and Antonio Scalia, the most rabid anti-abortion justices.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) has declared a state of emergency to save women’s rights. Beginning with the march on Washington April 22 to pressure the Senate not to roll back women’s rights and to maintain a woman’s right to self-determination and reproductive rights. For more information, visit www.now.org.
Bush’s frontal attack on reproductive freedom is just one indication of how his rule will affect young women. Join the fight that begins now and that will continue for the next four years. Organizations like the Coalition of Labor Union Women, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Black Women United for Action, the Young Communist League and many more see this as a fight for women’s rights and human rights.
Reproductive rights isn’t the only women’s issue on Bush’s chopping board. We must not overlook the attacks on ergonomics standards, welfare deform, affirmative action, pay equity and more.
In a press release announcing the NOW March, Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal has identified this as ‘Our Vietnam.’ “The future of young women is being decided by old men in Washington who will never confront the danger themselves. Just like any army training to go into battle, we are gearing up for a strong defense in this war on our rights.�
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Dynamic Magazine
