For Immediate Release:	March 7, 2003
For More Information:	Dionne Scott, Center for Reproductive Rights, DSCOTT@REPRORIGHTS.ORG, (917) 733-4357
Sponsor Organization:	Center for Reproductive Rights
Statement from Nancy Northup, President of the Center for Reproductive Rights
New York, NY-“International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate the remarkable gains made by women around the world. However, on this year’s International Women’s Day, President Bush is not only preparing for war with Iraq, he is continuing to fight the insidious, silent war he waged against women’s reproductive rights and health from the day he took office. Since reinstating the global gag rule as his first executive order, President Bush has eliminated $34 million in family planning funds, vowed to sign an abortion ban into law, appointed several anti-choice judges and increased funding for abstinence only sex-education.” “The casualties of the war against women’s reproductive rights have been astronomical. AIDS now has a woman’s face in both the US and abroad and more than a half a million women die each year from pregnancy-related causes, including 78,000 from unsafe abortions. Though many of these casualties could be prevented through better family planning and reproductive health care, the Bush administration is strangling efforts to advance these services.” “The Center for Reproductive Rights will continue our efforts to secure women’s reproductive freedom by challenging laws that harm women’s health, and working with governments and international organizations to end human rights abuses and increase women’s access to reproductive healthcare. From documenting cases of forced sterilization in Slovakia to promoting contraceptive equity in the United States to aiding Nepalese women’s advocacy groups in legalizing abortion, the Center for Reproductive Rights has worked to support gender equality through domestic and international legal advocacy.” Challenges to Reproductive Health and Freedom in 2003 “Partial-Birth Abortion” Bans: Next week, the Senate is expected to consider a bill that is essentially the same as a Nebraska law struck down just three years ago by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court found that law unconstitutional for two reasons: first, it would have prevented women from obtaining the safest methods of abortion; second, it lacked an exception in cases where the health of the mother was in jeopardy. The proposed bill fails to remedy these flaws. To learn more about this unconstitutional, deceptive ban, visit http://www.reproductiverights.org/pub_art_pba.html. /> Abortion in Nepal: Six months after the Government of Nepal decriminalized abortion, women are continuing to serve prison sentences for abortion and related offences. These women were tried and convicted with no regard for their rights to due process and equality and are living under appalling and inhumane conditions. For more information on the new campaign to release these women visit http://www.reproductiverights.org/pri_abortion.html. /> Global Gag Rule (GGR): Any day now, the Bush administration is expected to expand the global gag rule to cover HIV/AIDS funding, in addition to programs aimed at treating and preventing sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and gender-based violence, reducing maternal mortality, and providing reproductive health education. GGR prohibits foreign organizations that receive U.S. funds from using their own, non-U.S. funds to provide legal abortion services, lobby for abortion law reform, or provide counseling or referrals on abortion. For more information visit http://www.reproductiverights.org/pr_03_0218ggr.html. /> Forced Sterilization in Slovakia: After a three-month fact-finding investigation in late 2002, the Center and a Slovak human rights organization found that not only do coerced sterilization practices continue in Slovakia, so do the widespread abuses against Romani women in the country’s maternal health services. Visit http://www.reproductiverights.org/pub_bo_slovakia.html. /> Maternal Mortality in Mali: Like many countries in Africa, women in Mali face the greatest risk of dying during pregnancy and childbirth. An estimated one in 19 women die from pregnancy-related causes in Mali and every year about three thousand women lose their lives to pregnancy-related deaths, most of which could be prevented. Read the Center’s new report, which calls for concerted, urgent action on the part of the government and the international community to ensure women’s safety on their journeys through pregnancy and childbirth. Visit http://www.reproductiverights.org/pub_bo_mali.html. /> Contraceptive Equity: Every year U.S. women spend approximately 70% more money out-of-pocket than men on health care because their employers’ health insurance plans do not cover prescription contraceptives. To learn more about the Center’s involvement in contraceptive equity visit http://www.reproductiverights.org/pri_contraception.html.