Bush's Secret War

· On his first day in office, the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Bush restores the Reagan-era global gag rule on international family planning assistance - January 22, 2001

· President Bush moves to increase "abstinence-only" education funding - October 11, 2002

· House passes the "Child Custody Protection Act" - April 17, 2002

· Bush administration representatives fight sexuality education and oppose condoms for HIV/AIDS prevention at the UN Children's Summit - May 2002

· President Bush withholds $34 million in funding for birth control, maternal and child health care, and HIV/AIDS prevention from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) - July 22, 2002

· President Bush does an about-face on support of women's rights treaty, The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CEDAW - July 26, 2002

· HHS announces "abstinence-only" advocate to oversee nation's family planning program - October 7, 2002

· Bush administration reverses U.S. position in support of 1994 global agreement that affirms the right of all couples and individuals to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and to have the information and means to do so (United Nations, 1994) - November 2, 2002

BUILDING THE PLATFORM TO OUTLAW ABORTION

House passes the so-called "Unborn Victims of Violence Act" - April 26, 2001
House passes the so-called "Abortion Non-Discrimination Act" - September 25, 2002
Bush administration gives embryos new status in the HHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protection Charter - October 2002
Bush Administration Advances position that life begins at conception at regional population conference in Asia - December 11-17, 2002

REPLACING SCIENCE WITH RIGHT-WING IDEOLOGY

President Bush considers nominating John Klink - an ardent opponent of birth control and a spokesperson for the Vatican's opposition to condom use - to oversee the United States' global population program - May 23, 2001
President Bush prevents taxpayer funding for additional stem cells beyond existing stem cell lines, placing severe limits on stem cell research - August 9, 2001
Bush administration representatives fight sexuality education and oppose condoms for HIV/AIDS prevention at the UN Children's Summit - May 2002
President Bush withholds more than $200 million in funding for programs to support women and address HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan - August 2, 2002
President Bush Freezes $3 million in funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to anti-choice objections to the WHO's human reproduction research program - October 2002
Bush administration Web sites remove medically accurate information - October 2002
Family planning foe Rep. Chris Smith calls on USAID to exclude reproductive health organizations in developing countries from receiving HIV/AIDS funding - October 24, 2002

CENSORING FREE SPEECH

Bush administration Web sites remove medically accurate information - October 2002
Bush administration reverses U.S. position in support of 1994 global agreement that affirms the right of all couples and individuals to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and to have the information and means to do so (United Nations, 1994) - November 2, 2002
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site posted "revised" fact sheet downplaying condom effectiveness - December 2, 2002
At an international conference in Bangkok, U.S. officials demanded the deletion of a recommendation for "consistent condom use" to fight AIDS and sexual diseases. One study by the University of California at Berkeley found condom distribution to be astonishingly cost-effective, costing just $3.50 per year of life saved. In contrast, antiretroviral therapy cost almost $1,050. Yet the U.S. is now donating only 300 million condoms annually, down from about 800 million at the end of the first President Bush's term.

With thanks to Planned Parenthood Federation of America