Howard: Obama should put America first

‘ ‘ ‘ Women in the developing world will soon have greater access to abortion and birth control… ‘ ‘ ‘ Women in the developing world will soon have greater access to abortion and birth control thanks to a recent executive order by President Barack Obama. The order, announced Friday, overturned a Bush administration policy known as the ‘global gag rule,’ which denied federal funding to non-profit organizations that perform or promote abortions abroad. ‘ ‘ ‘ But despite Obama’s swift action to facilitate family planning in the Third World, he has yet to act to expand the access of American women to birth control and abortion services. ‘ ‘ ‘ Liberal gestures made on the international stage are all well and good. However, I am far more concerned with quickly undoing the damage done by the Bush administration to the reproductive health of American women. ‘ ‘ ‘ In particular, it is time to reintroduce steep discounts to the cost of contraceptives at student health centers across the country. Before the enactment of the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act, undergraduate women were able to purchase oral contraceptives at a quarter or third of the usual retail price. ‘ ‘ ‘ These discounts not only eased the financial burden on undergraduate women but also served to prevent unwanted pregnancies on college campuses. This is not a minor problem on our campuses. According to the American College Health Association, 39 percent of undergraduate women are on the pill. ‘ ‘ ‘ This means that the yearly price of contraceptives for 39 percent of all undergraduate women went up by some $300 to $400 under the Bush administration. Swift actions should have been taken to correct this situation’ at home, before the Obama administration secures family planning services for women in other countries. ‘ ‘ ‘ After all, shouldn’t Obama be putting the reproductive health of American citizens before that of Somalis, Kenyans and South Africans? ‘ ‘ ‘ But the damage done by the Bush administration to reproductive health has gone far beyond this country’s college campuses. A day before he left office, Bush signed a presidential order known as the ‘conscience protection rule.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ This last-minute executive declaration makes it legal for doctors, nurses and others in the health care profession to refuse to perform or facilitate abortions, make emergency contraceptive available or prescribe birth control to a patient. ‘ ‘ ‘ Through this rule, the Bush administration has not only jeopardized the reproductive health of millions of American women but has also created a safe haven for the religiously deranged in the nation’s health care industry. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Obama administration must act quickly to reverse this declaration and to purge the medical profession of religious zealots who would deny their patients health care. ‘ ‘ ‘ As long as Americans are not guaranteed access to abortions and birth control services, Obama has no business providing for the reproductive health of the Third World. ‘ ‘ ‘ These first 100 hundred days of the Obama administration should be a time to undo the damage done by the Bush administration at home before we even consider tackling the problems of the developing world. ‘ ‘ ‘ Rather than tripling non-military aid to Pakistan, as Vice President Joe Biden recently proposed, the new administration should be rebuilding the U.S. education system. ‘ ‘ ‘ Instead of immediately restoring financial support to the United Nations Population Fund, Obama should restore federal funding to stem cell research. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Obama administration’s initial focus on international perception and aid is a reflection of poor judgment and naivete. All the non-military aid in the world isn’t going to defeat Islamic terrorists in Pakistan, nor will immediately restoring funding to a UN program convince the Third World of the merits of family planning. ‘ ‘ ‘ Attempting to tackle such large issues so quickly might grab headlines around the world and produce a brief spike in Obama’s approval rating in Ghana, but the long-term benefits of such actions are negligible. ‘ ‘ ‘ The only nation in which Obama can effect immediate positive change is our own. Only once the United States has been repaired internally, once all of our rights as citizens have been restored and once our health care is no longer in jeopardy, can we return to the international stage as an agent for positive change. ‘ ‘ ‘ E-mail Giles at gbh4@pitt.edu.