ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH

President Bush and the Global "Gag" Rule Send a Chilling Message to the World's One Billion Young People

Advocates for Youth Endorses The "Global Democracy Promotion Act" As Critical First Step in Saving Millions of Lives Worldwide

WASHINGTON, DC (February 15, 2001) With nearly 80 million unplanned pregnancies worldwide each year, Advocates for Youth's President, James Wagoner, today calls the introduction of a bill to repeal international family planning restrictions a "critical first step in undoing the damage done by President Bush's reinstatement of the global 'gag' rule."

The Global Democracy Promotion Act of 2001, introduced today by Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) and a bi-partisan group of Representatives and Senators would repeal the global "gag" rule restrictions on international family planning programs reinstated by President Bush on his first day in office.

"With this divisive and reactionary edict, President Bush single-handedly placed the health and lives of millions of women and children around the globe in jeopardy," said Wagoner. "I applaud the members of Congress who are taking action in an effort to minimize the untold harm caused by President Bush's extreme action."

Currently, 46 million pregnancies worldwide end in abortion each year. The "gag" rule not only restricts international family planning organizations from providing safe abortions, but by cutting off funding, also limits their ability to provide critical family planning services that reduce the need for abortions. "It is ironic that President Bush is virtually guaranteeing the need for abortion by limiting the most effective and fundamental means of reducing abortion," said Wagoner.

"As the first act of his Presidency, Mr. Bush imposed an order so damaging that if issued in the United States it would be unconstitutional," said Wagoner. "There are one billion young people of reproductive age in the world today. The censorship of the global gag rule is rendering these young people powerless over their futures and is threatening the quality of life on this planet for generations to come."

Women in developing regions where abortion is often illegal or highly restricted are more than three hundred times more likely than women in developed countries to die from unsafe abortions. Curtailing a woman's right to safe and legal abortions through the global "gag" rule threatens to increase these rates and compromise any future progress.

"By supporting policies like the global 'gag' rule George W. Bush is forcing international family planning organizations to choose between critical U.S. funding and the health of millions of women. Clearly, there is no 'compassionate' in 'compassionate conservatism,'" concluded Wagoner.

Advocates for Youth is an international, nonprofit organization that creates programs and supports policies that help young people make safe, responsible decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

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Note to Editors and Producers: For more information or to set up an interview with adolescent sexuality experts, please contact Bill Barker at (202) 419-3420.

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