More Pro-Life Groups Want House to Reject President Obama’s Intl Abortion Agenda
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 9, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — More pro-life groups are calling on the House of Representatives to reject President Barack Obama’s international abortion promotion agenda. They are opposed to a bill in Congress that would set up a new international women’s ambassador who would promote abortion as an international right.
At issue is the State Department authorization bill (H.R. 2410), which is scheduled to receive a vote Wednesday or Thursday.
The legislation establishes the Office for Global Women’s Issues that President Barack Obama will use to promote abortion on an international scale.
The National Right to Life Committee has already asked members of the House to oppose the measure unless an amendment from Rep. Chris Smith is adopted to make it abortion neutral. Now, the Family Research Council and the Susan B. Anthony List are following suit.
"While the Obama Administration has made the claim that they want to reduce abortions in America, they’ve made no such claims abroad," FRC president Tony Perkins says. "On the contrary, the current administration is already planning the groundbreaking ceremony for an Office of Global Women’s Issues, which is certain to become an international abortion headquarters."
FRC also points to a response from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a hearing by Foreign Affairs Committee members on April 22, where she admitted, “We are now an administration that will protect the rights of women, including their rights to reproductive health care,” and that “reproductive health includes access to abortion.”
"Reproductive health care is an attempt to put a nice wrapper on unlimited abortion," Perkins says.
He said the Family Research Council stands behind the Smith amendment, but whether it will receive a debate and vote is another question.
"If House Democrats allow it, all of Smith’s colleagues will have the chance to vote on his amendment to bar the office from acting as a global abortion clearinghouse," he said.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, the head of the pro-life women’s group Susan B. Anthony List, is also concerned about the far-reaching effects of the bill.
"Earlier this year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Congress that she believes that reproductive rights are a fundamental policy goal and that abortion is a reproductive right," she told LifeNews.com in an email.
"Under Clinton’s leadership at the State Department, the newly created Office of Global Women’s Issues will carry out her vision by advancing the legalization of abortion in pro-life nations around the world," she added. "This means that your tax dollars will help promote pro-abortion laws in countries around the world, particularly in the Third World."
"Americans should respond to women’s needs in foreign countries with real assistance that upholds their dignity, not by promoting or paying for abortions," Dannenfelser said.
Alice Paul, an early feminist, once said that "Abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women."
"We must not allow Secretary Clinton to exploit vulnerable women and children by spreading abortion in other countries," Dannenfelser responded.
During the committee consideration of the bill, the Foreign Affairs Committee rejected an amendment Smith offered to prevent the proposed new office from engaging in efforts to alter the laws of foreign nations governing abortion.
ACTION: Contact your member of Congress by going to https://www.house.gov and urge support for the Smith amendment and opposition to H.R. 2410 if the Smith amendment is not adopted.
Related web sites:
Susan B. Anthony List – https://www.sba-list.org
Family Research Council – https://www.frc.org
National Right to Life – https://www.nrlc.org
Clinton’s comments to Smith – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gEA97EnxE4
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