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Hi All, It didn't take George Dubya long to establish his position.... Unfortunately, I believe we won't have to wait long for a negative move -- on stem cell research. ......... murray ********************** Battle cries: Bush order sparks abortion firestorm by Andrew Miga and Laurel J. Sweet Tuesday, January 23, 2001 WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush, despite his inaugural pleas for unity, yesterday plunged into one of the nation's most bitterly divisive fights, banning federal funds for groups providing abortion counseling overseas. ``It is my conviction that taxpayer funds should not be used to pay for abortions or advocate or actively promote abortion either here or abroad,'' Bush wrote in a memo to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which runs the international funding program. The first major policy move of Bush's new presidency delighted tens of thousands of anti-abortion activists who were protesting in Washington on the 28th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion. ``We share a great goal: to work toward a day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law,'' Bush said in a statement read to protesters at the annual anti-abortion March For Life. ``We know this will not come easily, or all at once.'' Kate Bourne, director of advocacy programs for Watertown-based Pathfinder, International, which has provided reproductive health services worldwide for 40 years, said, ``This will be seen as a declaration of war by Bush. It confirms our worst fears. This is such an in-your-face way of presenting it - on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.'' Bush's new executive order reversed a Clinton administration's policy providing the funding. Congress approved $425 million for the programs last fall. Dr. Mildred F. Jefferson, a founder of Massachusetts Citizens for Life in Charlestown, praised the president's move. Acknowledging that some Third World women may attempt drastic measures to abort unwanted pregnancies, she said, ``Their only hope of ending the vicious cycle of poverty is to have numbers. They may be killing off the ones who have the solutions to their problems. We simply can't allow these unborn children to fight alone.'' But Judy Norsigian, a senior program officer for Boston Women's Health Book Collective in Somerville, called Bush's rollback of U.S. funding for overseas abortions ``a terrible decision, but something he can get away with because it doesn't directly affect women in this country.'' ``This is likely to be the first of many decisions against women,'' she said. For the first time since 1992, abortion foes have an ally in the White House, though Bush had generally downplayed his anti-abortion views during the bitter 2000 presidential campaign. Bush opposes abortions except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest. Abortion rights leaders fear Bush is moving to cripple women's reproductive rights on several fronts as he launches his presidency. They cited the president's plans to review the federal government's approval of the abortion drug RU-486, fetal tissue medical research and his support for anti-abortion nominees John Ashcroft as Attorney General and Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Bush has also expressed support for banning partial-birth abortions. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said Bush's move is ``ominous'' in light of the Ashcroft nomination. ``It shows that the new administration is bent on undermining a woman's right to choose,'' Kennedy said. The executive order signed by Bush restores what was known as the ``Mexico City Policy'' begun by former President Ronald Reagan during a conference in the city in 1984 and continued by Bush's father during his single term that ended in 1992. The new president faces considerable political risk by wading into the bitter abortion controversy so soon in his new post. Some political analysts recalled how Clinton blundered into the controversy over gays in the military during the first days of his presidency, derailing the smooth start he had hoped for. A new ABC News/Washington Post poll showed nearly six-in-10 Americans want to keep abortion legal in all or most cases. Eight of 10 respondents said abortion should be sanctioned to preserve a mother's health or in cases of rape or incest. The bitter personal and political splits over abortion were underscored over the weekend after Bush's wife Laura told an interviewer she did not favor overturning Roe v. Wade. That view is at odds with her husband. ``It's a personal matter,'' said Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), a strong abortion rights supporter, said Bush's ban will have severe health consequences across the globe. ``I will not back away from my conviction that international family planning programs are in America's best interests,'' Kerry said. ``We should resist pressures in this country for heavy-handed Washington mandates that ignore basic choices that should belong to free people around the globe.'' U.S. Rep. Martin T. Meehan (D-Lowell) asserted that U.S. funds are not directly used for abortions, only for counseling in family planning clinics. ``It's an extremist position for Bush to take,'' said Meehan. U.S. Rep. J. Joseph Moakley (D-South Boston) voiced qualified support for Bush's new ban. ``Anywhere I can help, I vote pro-life,'' said Moakley, citing his Catholic beliefs. ``But I try to be respectful of the other side because some of these issues are close and complicated. I'd like to take a good look at what Bush did before I say much.'' http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/abor01232001.htm ********************** Planned Parenthood Federation of America: Bush Policy Comes Between a Woman and Her Healthcare Provider Jan. 22, 2001 | 8:26 p.m. To: National Desk Contact: Glenn Mones, 212-261-2652, or Kirsten Sherk, 202-973-4864 or 202-744-1837, both of Planned Parenthood Federation of America WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a statement by Planned Parenthood Federation of America on re-imposition of the ``Mexico City Policy'': On his first full day in office, Bush has launched the latest wave in his assault on women's reproductive rights. He has issued a memorandum that reinstates the Reagan-era Mexico City policy, which denied U.S. funding to any foreign non-governmental organizations that provided abortion services, counseling or referrals. President Bush imposed this policy today because he says he does not support using taxpayer funds to perform or ``promote'' abortions overseas. They don't. Current law already prohibits using U.S. taxpayer funds to perform abortions or lobby for or against it. At the heart of the policy, and what makes it so intrusive and far-reaching, is that it would control what foreign recipients of U.S. international family planning assistance do and say with their own funds. Furthermore, with this memorandum, the U.S. government comes between a woman and her healthcare provider. It creates a culture of fear among those best equipped to address the health needs of women and their families around the world. ``This action threatens global progress to provide life-saving family planning and reproductive health services to millions of women and men around the world,'' said Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. http://www.postnet.com/postnet/news/wires.nsf/National/ ********************* [log in to unmask]