GLOBAL GAG RULE DEVELOPMENTS

[SPECIAL NOTE: The May 16 vote on the Lee Amendment to overturn the global gag rule that went before the U.S. House of Representatives today (May 16) lost in a tight 218-210 vote. Go to www.PLANetWIRE.org  http://www.PLANetWIRE.org for the latest coverage and press releases on the vote.]

Major news outlets across the U.S. and abroad reported on continuing developments on the global gag rule. The House International Relations Committee voted May 3 26-22 for an amendment sponsored by Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) to overturn Bush's Jan. 22 reinstatement of the Mexico City policy. According to the Los Angeles Times May 3 story, the Lee amendment was attached to the State Department's annual budget and is expected go before the House on May 16. The New York Times, the Washington Post and the International Herald Tribune (Paris) were among the major outlets that covered this story.  <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/03/politics/03ABOR.html> ] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35742-2001May2.html

A May 7 Associated Press story noted that a letter signed by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Lee, both (D-CA) and James Greenwood (R-PA) was sent to Secretary of State Colin Powell to "respectfully request a meeting to discuss how [they] can convince the administration to reverse its Mexico City policy." link [NOTE: To read opinions on the Lee Amendment, go to the Editorials and Opinions section.]

UNITED NATIONS AND FUNDING

Two days after the United States was voted off the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported May 5 that Bush launched his first global diplomatic initiative to Europe, Russia and Asia, which analysts say is a form of "damage control" following his decisions on key elements of the broad global consensus including global warming and international family planning funding.

Consequently, the Washington Post reported May 10 that the U.S. House of Representatives voted 252-165 to withhold $244 million in U.N. arrears next year "striking back" at the world body for its decision to oust the United States from its seat on a U.N. Human Rights Commission. link

[NOTE: To read opinions on the House withholding U.N. arrears, go to the Editorials and Opinions section.]

On May 3, the Associated Press reported that secretary-general of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development said in an advance of the international conference on "Least-Developed Countries" in Brussels, "rich countries need to double the development assistance they are giving to the world's poorest nations if they want to have a real effect on overall levels of poverty."

CONTRACEPTIVES SHORTAGE AND HIV/AIDS COVERAGE

Major media outlets in the United States and abroad covered Bush's May 11 announcement to pledge $200 million to the Global AIDS Fund, a $7 to $10 billion program set up by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to be funded by rich countries. Bush's pledge would make the U.S. the first to commit resources. AIDS activists and nongovernmental groups criticized the amount as "far too little" in the Washington Post's May 11 story. This fund would be instrumental in helping the 23 million people worldwide infected with the virus and preventing the spread of the disease. link

A May 4 Inter Press Service story reported that representatives of developing nations attending the international conference titled "Meeting the Reproductive Health Challenges" in Istanbul expressed concern that the withdrawal of support by donors for reproductive health programs may hurt the fight against Africa's number one killer, HIV/AIDS. Two other major factors contributing to the shortage of contraceptives along with insufficient funds are that there are more potentially sexually active people of reproductive age and the success of family planning programs has increased demand for contraceptives, according to a May 9 Chicago Tribune story. The Independent (London) explained in a May 7 story that the United Nations Population Fund is short of funds and needs and additional $1 billion to meet the demand for contraceptives.

"The next big thing in the war against AIDS is microbicides," a substance that comes in a number of forms, including cream, gel, sponge, suppository, foam or film used to prevent infection that results from sexual, according to a May 5 Hartford Courant (CT) story. An expert from the Kaiser Foundation said, "microbicides are of particular importance to women, who represent a growing proportion of new AIDS cases" and in the developing world, which has the greatest burden of AIDS and the greatest need for microbicides.

A May 14 Agence France Presse story reported that a survey by UNICEF revealed that children in East Asia and the Pacific are "woefully" unprepared to deal with the rapidly growing threat of AIDS. Out of the 10,000 children questioned, 60 percent of children between nine and 13 years old and 25 percent between 14 and 17 years old said they new "absolutely nothing" about AIDS or knew "only the name." UNICEF's regional director said, "The results of this survey should serve as a wake up call to the governments and societies in this region on how much more needs to be done to educate young people, especially about HIV and AIDS."

A MOTHER'S DAY FOCUS ON INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING AND SAFE MOTHERHOOD

Save the Children issued its 2001 State of the World's Mothers report that measures the status of mothers around the world on the basis of health care, use of contraception and family planning, literacy rate and participation in government, according to a May 8 Associated Press story. This report issued an index measuring the health and survival status of mothers in 94 countries - the bottom 10 countries are located in Africa. Safe motherhood was also mentioned in a May 8 Philippine Daily Inquirer story, which reported the results of a survey by the Commission on Population (Popcom). The survey found that more women die of pregnancy-related complications than of typhoid, H-fever, infections and hepatitis in the Philippines.   link

In addition, the Business Recorder (Pakistan) reported May 11 that a $475 million project funded by the Pakistan government, in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank, increase social mobilization to improve rural reproductive health in 20 selected districts. The project is set to target 14.9 million in the rural population, including 2.4 million women of reproductive age (15-44) and 0.6 million infants each year.

A May 5 Times of India story reported that the director of Palna, an NGO that cares for abandoned babies in New Delhi, said the abandoning of female and disabled babies is a reflection of "social ills." He also mentioned that inadequate access to contraceptives, lack of sex education and low levels of literacy also contribute to unwanted pregnancies and risk of pregnancy-related complications.

In order to educate students on the "sensitive" issues like reproductive health, sex and sexually transmitted diseases, the Karnataka government of Bangalore, India in collaboration with the Bangalore Medical Services Trust are set to launch a health education project in government high schools, according to a May 4 Times of India story.

EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS

On May 9, various national and regional U.S. outlets featured editorials in support of the Lee Amendment. Many outlets voiced similar opinions as the New York Times May 13 editorial asked House Republicans the "real question is whether they want to be identified with an inhumane rule that hurts poor, desperate women, not to mention America's relations with its allies." The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Los Angeles Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and San Francisco Chronicle were among various outlets that criticized the global gag rule. [http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/13/opinion/13SUN3.html   [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/05/15/ED32010.DTL

The New York Times ran a May 9 letter by Alexander Sanger, chairman of International Planned Parenthood, that said Bush's budget falls "far short" of the amounts needed by the world to fight the AIDS crisis and that "Bush has further directly impeded the fight against AIDS by his global gag rule." link

In response to the U.S. House vote to withhold $244 in U.N. arrears, which was intended to "snub" the U.N. for voting the U.S. off of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, various outlets ran editorials criticizing the House's "overreaction." A May 14 editorial in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted the anger for is justified, but the disdain demonstrated for the multilateral democratic process is precisely the kind of behavior that helps fuel anti-American resentment." link On Mother's Day, May 13, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution ran an op ed by Peter Bell president of CARE and Amy Coen president of Population Action International (PAI) that reflected on the "stark" reality poor women face when they choose to become mothers. PAI and CARE's Reproductive Health Risk Index study found that the "routine" reproductive health care provided in the U.S. is dangerously rare in other parts of the developing world.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer also ran a Mother's Day piece by Elizabeth Huttman, CARE's senior director in Seattle that discussed safe motherhood throughout the world - where 99% of the pregnancy-related deaths occur in developing countries. She concluded by asking to remember those who have paid the ultimate price for motherhood and to help stop "unnecessary" deaths. link

The above analysis was written by Elena M. H. Cabatu email to: ecabatu@ccmc.org and Kathy Bonk at the Communications Consortium Media Center <http://www.ccmc.org/> , 1200 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005, 202/326-8700. Redistribution is encouraged with credit to CCMC.

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