Sex ed, Bush Administration style
MOLLY IVINS
"The latest in a long line of anti-woman decisions by
the Bush administration is, for once, getting some
attention -- in part because of the sheer
cheapness of the move.
President Bush has decided not to send the $34
million approved by both houses of Congress for the
United Nations Fund for Population"
workingforchange.com
AUSTIN, Texas -- As all the Miss Witherspoons of
our lives used to call in those clear, fluty tones,
"Attention, girls!" Heads up, women, we've got
problems.
The latest in a long line of anti-woman decisions by
the Bush administration is, for once, getting some
attention -- in part because of the sheer
cheapness of the move.
President Bush has decided not to send the $34
million approved by both houses of Congress for the
United Nations Fund for Population Activities
(UNFPA). The fund provides contraception, family
planning and safe births, and works against the
spread of HIV and against female genital mutilation
in the poorest countries of the world. Thirty-four
million dollars goes a long way in the parts of the
world where over 600,000 women die every year
from pregnancy and childbirth, many of them
children themselves.
Of course, our poor government is so broke it can't
afford to waste $34 million on women in poor
countries. It has more important things to do, like
spending $100 million on "promoting marriage." (I'm
in favor of recycling old Nike ads for this one:
"Marriage. Just do it.")
Two women -- Jane Roberts, a retired teacher in
California, and Lois Abraham, a lawyer in New
Mexico -- have started a splendid symbolic protest,
and it is spreading by email, fax, newsletters and all
kinds of women's groups. The organizers are looking
for "34 million Friends of UNFPA" to send $1 each to
the United Nations (FPA) at 220 East 42nd St.,
New York, N.Y. 10017.
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, director of the UNFPA, said
the $34 million U.S. contribution would have helped
prevent 2 million unwanted pregnancies, 800,000
induced abortions, 4,700 maternal deaths, and
77,000 infant and child deaths. We don't have $34
million to save the lives of poor women, but
President Bush wants to spend $135 million on
abstinence education, which doesn't work worth a
damn.
According to that fountain of misinformation, the
Rev. Jerry Falwell: "This announcement angered
school sex educators, who concentrate on
teaching our nation's students that they should
explore their sexuality and ignore the
consequences. But Mr. Bush said government can
teach children how to exhibit sexual control."
Actually, sex education is entirely about the
consequences of "exploring sexuality," and it works.
The Guttmacher Institute published a report last
week showing that the abortion rate is down by 11
percent in this country precisely because young
people are now getting more education about sex.
One would think the anti-abortion forces would be
grateful.
Instead, there is every indication that in addition to
taking away a woman's right to choose whether to
have an abortion, the Bush administration is going
after contraception, as well. Bush's first action on
his first day as president was to reinstitute the
global "gag rule" that no foreign aid can go to any
women's clinic abroad that that mentions the word
abortion, even when the life of the mother is at
stake. Now he wants to make W. David Hager
chairman of the Food and Drug Administration's
panel on women's health policy. Hager is an ob-gyn
from Kentucky who wants the FDA to reverse its
approval of RU-486, the so-called "abortion pill."
Although Hager is the editor of a book that includes
the essay "Using the Birth Control Pill is Ethically
Unacceptable," he told Maureen Dowd of The New
York times he does not agree with the essay. Then
why include it? He does not prescribe
contraceptives for single women, does not do
abortions, will not prescribe RU-486 and will not
insert IUDs. Hager also believes headaches, PMS
and eating disorders can be cured by reading
Scripture. I do not want this man in charge of my
health policy.
It took almost all of human history for the
population of the globe to reach 1 billion in people
in 1800. It took only from 1987 to 1999 for world
population to grow from 5 billion to 6 billion. At
current rates, we will reach 13 billion by the middle
of the 21st century. Ninety-five percent of this
growth will be in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Studies estimate that by 2025, two out of every
three people on Earth will live in water-stressed
conditions. The stress on global resources is
already apparent. The National Wildlife Federation
points to severe deforestation, habitat
fragmentation, species extinction, water scarcity,
climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution.
Eighty percent of the original forest is gone or
degraded. The grim toll on the Earth's resources
goes on and on.
While we spend trillions of dollars on weapons, the
military and homeland security, the real threats --
water scarcity, climate change and population
growth -- advance unchecked. Of course, you
would know more about all this if the media weren't
so busy wasting hours of time on rank speculation
about the Maryland sniper. Crime doesn't pay, but
it sells.
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