36th Anniversary of Roe v Wade
I’ve been waiting to blog today because I was hoping that President Obama (not tired of saying/typing that yet!) would use the 36th anniversary of Roe v Wade to reverse the ‘global gag rule’.
Also known as the Mexico City Policy, the rule was enacted under Reagan, reversed by Clinton and then reinstated by Bush II on this very day in 2001. Here’s the gist (PP also has a video on the site):
Under this Reagan-era prohibition, no U.S. family planning assistance funding can be given to organizations that provide abortion services, offer counseling and referral for abortion care, or advocate legal abortion access in their own countries — even if they do so with their own funds.
Obama has promised to re-reverse the rule, and many were hoping he’d take this anniversary to reaffirm America’s commitment to women’s health and his administration’s commitment to reproductive choice.
I mean the Gitmo thing was good, too, but I like my symbols big and brash.
One person who apparently got the memo about big and brash is the idiot that drove his SUV into a Twin Cities Planned Parenthood this morning. Pro- and anti-choicers were united in their agreement that this disturbed individual should not pass go on his way to jail.
In related news, an anti-choice nurse is being sued for ‘accidentally’ removing a patient’s IUD. Said the nurse (according to the plaintiff):
Everyone in the office always laughs and tells me I pull these out on purpose because I am against them, but it’s not true, they accidentally come out when I tug.
Um. Yeah, I’m thinking new career path for you…
But big thumbs ups to the legions of reproductive health workers and educators out there. Way to fight the good fight, ladies and gents.
Finally, some at DHHS seem to think that Bush’s ‘conscience clause’ HHS rules - that I’ve blogged about ad nauseam - might fall under the Obama’s executive order halting all Bush’s midnight rules.
Oh all right, maybe that new president isn’t so bad after all.
Update: Obama released a statement recognizing and supporting Roe v Wade.
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