Carol Roye over at Womens eNews wrote a column about what would happen if the global gag rule were to get domesticated.

For anyone who needs a little background info, here is what Roye had to say about the gag rule:

It's a ban on U.S. family planning aid--including shipments of free condoms and contraceptives--to foreign nongovernmental organizations and clinics that have anything at all to do with abortion. It's called a gag rule because it not only bans U.S. aid for abortions in all but the most dire circumstances it goes so far as to silence--or "gag"-- clinicians from even talking about the option of abortion or lobbying to legalize abortion in their country.

Since many clinics have foregone U.S. aid under these conditions they have missed shipments of condoms and contraceptives, thus curbing their ability to help prevent unwanted pregnancies and HIV transmission. Whatever Dobson's Family Research Council may say, the gag rule, whether global or domestic, is anti-family because it jeopardizes the health of women and thus harms children. (emphasis mine)

Should this policy get implemented in the U.S., it will have equally dire effects. The Family Research Council, which was founded by Dr. James Dobson back in 1988, is putting a lot of pressure on Bush to domesticate the gag rule.

The Family Research Council and its allies are petitioning President Bush to "make the necessary changes to Title X regulations to prevent U.S taxpayer funds from being used to promote and facilitate abortion" and expand the international policy to restrict domestic health clinics.

Their petition says that locating family planning and abortion services in the same facilities "sends the wrong message, defies congressional intent and should not be allowed." Translation: If Title X funds are used to pay for Pap smears in one room, then abortions performed in another room are also being paid for by Title X so all funding must be withdrawn.

So basically, this is their backup plan - if they can't make abortion illegal, they'll simply make it impossible to obtain one. Something like this wouldn't decrease the number of abortions - it would decrease number of safe, legal abortions, while simultaneously increasing the number of unwanted pregnancies (and therefore increasing the number of women seeking abortions) by making it more difficult to obtain contraception and condoms. It would adversely affect low income women, who can't afford contraception and definitely not abortion without some kind of aid. It is these women who so often find themselves without insurance and forced to go to the clinics that would be affected by the domestication of the global gag rule.

It is incredibly important that we do all we can to prevent this from happening. We need to voice our opinions and make ourselves heard - both to the candidates and the voters - because not only should every woman have the right to choose, she should also have access to accurate, honest information about her choices.

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