Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Bu$hCo's International Family Planning Veto Threat

This Jeff Danzinger images is dated yet can apply to yesterday's news that a Bu$h veto threat forced Democrats and perhaps even other sensible Senators on the other side of the aisle to abandon efforts to have "the 2008 foreign aid budget reverse a longstanding ban on providing aid -- including donated contraceptives -- to organizations abroad that use their own money to offer abortions, counsel about abortion, or advocate to change their countries' abortion laws."

Perhaps Progressives ought to let the rascal veto something and then try to focus the coverage on the extreme conservativism that represents the modern GOP? I'm uncertain if this legislation was where that ought to begin yet it seems like sensible policy to me ... and New York's Nina Lowey. Representative Lowey said:
This dogmatic adherence to an illogical position diminishes our influence around the world and prevents us from working effectively to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions.
Marianne Mollmann, Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch's Women's Rights Division, uses HuffPo to explain the twisted logic of not only Bu$hCo but also the "Global Gag Rule" which dates back to The Gipper. Again, using the right veto to blast not only the current administration but also "movement conservatism" seems like an opportunity lost.

Finally, the quote in the first sentence was lifted from an American Progress piece from Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, and Ali Frick that covers this and other outrages from Bu$hCo. Peace ... or War!

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