"Yesterday, members of the Dutch, United Kingdom and Russian parliaments, and a member of the European Parliament from Denmark, traveled to Washington D.C. to tell members of Congress that the global gag rule restricts their foreign aid programs and hinders their democracy-building efforts. The global gag rule, reinstated by President Bush on his second day in office, limits foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from using their own non-U.S. funds for abortion services, lobbying, referrals and reform. However, its impact is much broader. The European parliamentarians testified that their nation’s funding to developing countries is hindered by the Bush gag rule. Our own allies cannot partner with foreign organizations on projects that, for example, reduce the number of women dying from unsafe abortions if those organizations receive USAID funds. The gag rule severely curtails the effectiveness of already limited development relief in the area of family planning and reproductive health.
"Ans Zwerver, the Dutch official in attendance, spoke about how her country has the lowest teen pregnancy and abortion rates in the world. She attributed this success to the Netherlands’ refusal to separate contraceptive services from abortion services and to the emphasis they place on sex education at an early age. The United States, on the other hand, has seven times more teen pregnancies and ten times more teen abortions than the Netherlands. She labeled the Bush administration’s approach as simply ‘wrong.’
"President Bush must realize that his policies are not simply conservative politics. His decisions endanger women’s lives, rupture political relationships, and demonstrate how little his administration is willing to do for women’s health in this country and abroad. ‘Restrictions on speech is what my country faced under the communist regime, and is what we have been struggling to overcome this past decade,’ said Rokitsky Rafailovoch, the Russian Parliamentarian in attendance who spoke on the gag rule’s free speech violations. ‘The [gag rule] undermines this struggle, the U.S. government’s credibility and its commitment to building democracy around the globe,’ added Rafailovoch.
"It is time President Bush listened to his allies."
Christina Zampas is the legal adviser for Europe in the International Program of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
