Bush Shows His "Compassionate Conservatism" To Africa

In one of many contradictions to George Bush's pledge to be a "compassionate conservatism," this week the White House is silently taking away contraception and family planning aid to African countries. Bush can claim to be pro-life all he wants, but in reality this callousness will ultimately destroy many lives.

From Planned Parenthood:

Washington, DC — Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is appalled by the Bush administration’s latest move to put women’s lives in danger by withholding contraceptives, a critical family planning resource, from women in six African countries. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is mandating that several African governments terminate a program that allows Marie Stopes International (MSI), one of the world's leading family planning organizations, to provide contraceptives in those countries.

“We know that family planning saves women's lives and protects their health,” said PPFA President Cecile Richards. “These women already face legal restrictions and harsh gender inequalities. Further limiting their access to health care puts them at risk of harm resulting from unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion and childbirth, and sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV/AIDS.”

This administration already has severely limited family planning funding to developing countries through its global gag rule, which mandates that 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. Domestically, the administration is moving forward with a regulation that would allow health care providers to withhold critical health information and services from women.

The new USAID mandate will seriously disrupt family planning programs in at least six African countries — Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Women in these countries will be left with few options and could end up turning to unsafe abortion services, which can result in their death or disability.

There are an estimated 137 million women in the developing world who are not using a contraceptive method. According to the World Bank, maternal mortality would drop by 25–35 percent if those women had access to adequate family planning services.

The cost of these programs are a fraction of what we waste every month in Iraq. The relatively small amount of charity it takes to help millions of Africans is easy for our country to spend, despite the enormous amount of debt we are in. America is/was known as a world leader because of our generous outreach across the globe but because of George Bush, we continue to lose our standing as a leading democracy and a country that cares about others who's wealth is nothing compared to the United States.