Rightwingwatch.org snagged this refreshingly honest quote from Rep. Hunter (R-CA) a few months ago and it couldn't be more telling: "If any judicial candidate comes before me and can look at a sonogram ... and not see valuable life, then I will not appoint him."
Hunter's ideological stance on abortion provides the impetus for his all-or-nothing political strategy which includes amending the U.S. Constitution to bestow personhood from the moment of conception, guaranteeing the rights and liberties conferred upon all people to the "unborn."
GoHunter08.com provides a forum for his voting record on reproductive health issues such as opposing embryonic stem cell research and voting to deny military women access to abortion care at military facilities overseas.
Perhaps his strongest anti-choice positions are reserved for U.S. funding of family planning programs overseas. Rep. Hunter is a strong supporter of the Mexico City Policy (also known as the "Global Gag Rule") which restricts USAID (United States Agency for International Development) funds to be used for international family planning programs that refer to or provide for abortions or engage in advocacy. In addition, Hunter has supported President Bush's decision to withhold funds from the UNFPA for programs that support crucial women's health services globally.
Rep. Hunter has actively supported a range of anti-choice legislation. He voted for the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act which, among other restrictions, prevents the transport of a minor across state lines for an abortion and requires doctors who perform abortions in states that do not have parental notification laws to abide by a minor's home state laws requiring parental notification. Hunter also supports federal funding for crisis pregnancy centers. For a full list of reproductive health legislation Hunter has opposed or supported, visit On The Issues.
If Obama knew my story, or the story of any woman who has sought a late term abortion, he wouldn't make such careless comments on the legality of exceptions to abortion bans.
Anti-choicers insist that abortion providers like Planned Parenthood get into the business because it's profitable. Never mind that Planned Parenthood does more to reduce the abortion rate by providing education and contraception than anything anti-choicers do.
Roe v. Wade gave us a federal statute to ensure abortion access after viability when a threat to the health of the pregnant woman was at stake. The federal abortion ban took it away.
We consider that a miscarriage has no moral content because we attribute it to God. But if women are partners with God then do they not also have moral authority to interrupt the process of human gestation?
Rev. Wallis, I will do everything I can to work with you on assuring adoption services and high quality prenatal care and parenting support -- when will we see you working to ensure women can prevent pregnancies in the first place?
A senior public health official in Jamaica recently called for decriminalization and taxation of commercial sex work. Other government officials decried the proposal, but have few effective suggestions of their own.
When discussing late-term abortion, Barack Obama used talking points we would expect to hear from John McCain: abstinence, adoption, and sacredness of sex.
Iowa Department of Public Health officials report that total cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis in the state reached record levels in 2007 -- with some major spikes among teen-age populations.
The increasing incidence of STD diagnoses in Minnesota is prompting lawmakers and public health departments to come up with strategies to address the emerging epidemic.
This year's Bush administration denial of $40 million to UNFPA comes as no surprise. But buried in the statement lies the threat that other international family planning groups who work in China may also have their U.S. government funding cut.
Next month, the Parliament of India will vote on an amendment that could further stigmatize and violate the human rights of sex workers by criminalizing the purchase of sexual services in India.
A handful of states are totally free of any federal abstinence-only money and close to half of all states have turned down Title V ab-only grant money for the coming fiscal year. The ab-only industry barely defends itself anymore.
A leading figure in the Christian right anti-trafficking establishment, Linda Smith embodies the tensions between feminists and religious right activists working on this issue.
Obama answers tough questions on abortion, McCain adviser Carly Fiorina advocates better insurance coverage for birth control, Microbicides and HIV drug resistance, PA refuses ab-only funds.
G8 promises $60 billion to fight disease in Africa, A book review on the Religious Right and sex, Obama needs women, UK's Family Planning Association proposes new comprehensive sex ed plan.
