President Bush’s right-wing supporters were rewarded on Jan. 22, when, two days after taking office, Bush reaffirmed the US global gag rule on abortion. This rule prohibits UN-sponsored family-planning agencies abroad from even mentioning abortion. In mid-April Bush rewarded the far right again, when his budget eliminated a Clinton program mandating contraceptive coverage for federal employees.

Some far-right groups not only oppose abortion, but want to eliminate access to all contraception.

The official stand of the anti-choice group Human Life International [www.hli.org] states: “As an essential part of its total approach to the life issues, HLI rejects the use of contraception....Contraceptives can help destroy marriages...using contraceptives means that a couple’s fertility is suppressed, and treated like a disease.”

According to Zero Population Growth, HLI is the largest organization of its type, and some members of Congress support its agenda.

ZPG, Population Communication International, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, among other groups, are mobilizing to preserve and extend access to all family planning measures. They urge people to speak out, and to write to newspapers and their representatives about the issue. —RK