Thu Jul 10,10:03 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - In a major blow to President George W. Bush's foreign aid policy, the US Senate voted to repeal his ban on assistance to international family planning groups that fight for the availability of abortion.
By a vote of 53-43, senators rejected a motion to kill an amendment by Democrat Barbara Boxer of California that strikes down the so-called Mexico City Policy, an anti-abortion measure reaffirmed by Bush on his second day in office.
The Boxer amendment, which has thus been allowed to stand, is attached to a 27-billion-dollar State Department foreign aid bill being debated by the chamber.
The Mexico City Policy, often referred to as "the global gag rule," bars the US government from providing assistance to organizations that advocate abortion as one of family planning tools and openly counsel women about abortion services.
These organizations face two choices, they can either refuse US assistance or give up the right to speak freely,” an elated Boxer said in a statement. She said "the global gag rule" would be unconstitutional if it applied to family planning groups in the United States. How can we export a policy that denies free speech and still say we support democracy?” the lawmaker asked....
But even after the Senate vote, the tug-of-war over population control was expected to continue.
The bill is facing an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. And the White House Office of Management and Budget warned earlier Wednesday that the administration would “strongly oppose” any amendment that would allow the government to fund abortion advocacy.
The president would veto the bill if it were presented to him with such a provision,” the OMB said in a terse statement.
But women's and abortion rights group hailed the Senate move as a crucial victory for all those who support a woman's right to choose.
The Bush administration's global gag rule has made family-planning services -- which reduce the need for abortion -- harder for the world's poorest women to access,” said Kate Michelman, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Population Connection President Peter Kostmayer said he believed the White House policy also violated the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees free speech.
Even if you are against abortion, the fact that we have been dictating reproductive health policies for women in developing countries, without regard to their laws or customs, should demonstrate just how wrong this policy was,” he said.
The bill also has a provision restoring 50 million dollars in funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) over a two-year period, according to officials.
HERE IS THE FULL TEXT OF THE AMENDMENT:
SA 1141. Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mr. CHAFEE, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. BIDEN, Mrs. CLINTON, and Mr. LAUTENBERG) proposed an amendment to amendment SA 1136 proposed by Mr. LUGAR to the bill S. 925, to authorize appropriations for the Department of State and international broadcasting activities for fiscal year 2004 and for the Peace Corps for fiscal years 2004 through 2007, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of title VIII, insert the following new section:
SEC. 815. GLOBAL DEMOCRACY PROMOTION.
(a) FINDINGS.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) It is a fundamental principle of American medical ethics and practice that health care providers should, at all times, deal honestly and openly with patients. Any attempt to subvert the private and sensitive physician-patient relationship would be intolerable in the United States and is an unjustifiable intrusion into the practices of health care providers when attempted in other countries.
(2) Freedom of speech is a fundamental American value. The ability to exercise the right to free speech, which includes the ``right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances'' is essential to a thriving democracy and is protected under the United States Constitution.
(3) The promotion of democracy is a principal goal of United States foreign policy and critical to achieving sustainable development. It is enhanced through the encouragement of democratic institutions and the promotion of an independent and politically active civil society in developing countries.
(4) Limiting eligibility for United States development and humanitarian assistance upon the willingness of a foreign nongovernmental organization to forgo its right to use its own funds to address, within the democratic process, a particular issue affecting the citizens of its own country directly undermines a key goal of United States foreign policy and would violate the United States Constitution if applied to United States-based organizations.
(5) Similarly, limiting the eligibility for United States assistance on a foreign nongovernmental organization's willingness to forgo its right to provide, with its own funds, medical services that are legal in its own country and would be legal if provided in the United States constitutes unjustifiable interference with the ability of independent organizations to serve the critical health needs of their fellow citizens and demonstrates a disregard and disrespect for the laws of sovereign nations as well as for the laws of the United States.
(b) Assistance for Foreign Nongovernmental Organizations Under Part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, regulation, or policy, in determining eligibility for assistance authorized under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), foreign nongovernmental organizations--
(1) shall not be ineligible for such assistance solely on the basis of health or medical services including counseling and referral services, provided by such organizations with non-United States Government funds if such services do not violate the laws of the country in which they are being provided and would not violate United States Federal law if provided in the United States; and
(2) shall not be subject to requirements relating to the use of non-United States Government funds for advocacy and lobbying activities other than those that apply to United States nongovernmental organizations receiving assistance under part I of such Act.