A timely reminder from an editorial in yesterday's Gray Lady, A World of Harm for Women http://www.nytimes.com/...
Romney plans to reinstate the gag rule on Day 1 of his administration:
Mr. Romney has pledged that, on his first day in the White House, he would reinstate the “global gag rule,” the odious restriction that has been used to deny federal money for family-planning work abroad to any organization that provided information, advice, referrals or services for legal abortion or supported the legalization of abortion, even using its own money.
I remember when this outrageous, medically unethical rule went into effect under Reagan, over sustained national and global outcry, and to the detriment of many women worldwide. I remember the relief I felt when Clinton rescinded it. But as the NY Times points out, the Republican World War on Women resurfaced under Bush:
Mr. Romney also vows to renew another of George W. Bush’s shameful policies (which was ended by President Obama), which blocked the United States from contributing to the United Nations Population Fund. That fund supports programs in some 150 countries to improve poor women’s reproductive health, reduce infant mortality, end the sexual trafficking of women and prevent the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. Like Mr. Bush, Mr. Romney has embraced the bogus charge that the Population Fund supports coerced abortions in China, ignoring a State Department investigation that found no evidence for that claim. In fact, the fund has helped promote a voluntary approach to family planning.
This issue deserves to be addressed in the foreign policy debate. Women's lives and health, and the health and security of their families, depend on it.