Bush Returns To His Old "Hood," Announces Women's Health Initiative

By Adrianna McGinley 

President George W. Bush returned to Washington on Wednesday where he announced a new initiative aimed at preventing and treating cervical and breast cancer in developing nations.

Together with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Joint United Nations Prgramme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the George W. Bush Institute announced the “Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon” initiative, which will introduce accessible women’s health care in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. The program begins with initial commitments of at least $75 million over five years and comes on the heels of PEPFAR’s success in combating HIV/AIDS in developing nations.

“There’s been a lot of progress made,” Bush said in reference to HIV prevention and treatment, “but there’s still a lot of problems that remain, and one such problem is cervical cancer. Turns out many women who seek AIDS services face the challenge of cervical cancer. It’s not enough to save a woman from AIDS and have her die from cervical cancer, it’s just unacceptable.”

President Bush also addressed those who claim the U.S. is not responsible for disease prevention in other nations.

“We got our own problems here at home, they say. This is isolationism which is dangerous, it’s dangerous because one of the lessons of September the 11th is what happens overseas matters here at home. When there’s hopelessness it affects the security of the United States of America…and there’s nothing more hopeless to a child who loses a mom or dad to AIDS to watch the wealthy nations of the world sit back and do nothing.”

Also speaking at the event were Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Susan G. Komen for the Cure CEO and Founder Nancy Brinker, who also serves as U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control.

“My sister Suzy made me promise I would do everything I could to help women not die of breast cancer, but that promise wasn’t limited to our borders, it was for all women, because where you live shouldn’t determine whether you live,” Brinker said. “We can’t afford to wait, the urgency of this crisis grows by the hour…More than 60 percent of all deaths by cancer occur in low and middle income countries, yet only 5 percent of the global resources are spent in the developing world.”

African leaders and doctors involved with the program were also present at the event and reiterated the urgency and need for this kind of assistance. 

GOP Attempting An "Assault On Women's Health," Claim Democrats

By Anna Cameron

At a press conference headed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) Tuesday, Democrats stood in fierce opposition to Republican proposals that those on the left say would threaten women’s health and reproductive services.

“Your agenda on women’s health is extreme. It breaks faith with a decades-long bipartisan compromise, and according to medical experts, your agenda risks the health and the lives of women,” said Boxer in a message to House Republicans included in her opening statement.

Spearheaded by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), the “No Taxpayer Funding For Abortions Act” would prohibit individuals with flexible spending accounts and health coverage tax credits from purchasing or keeping insurance covering a full range of reproductive health. Small businesses receiving tax credits would also lose them if they chose a health care plan that covered a full range of reproductive care.

Democrats argue that the proposed bill as well as other pieces of GOP legislation would hinder access to abortion in the case of rape, incest, and life-threatening situations and that millions of women would lose access to mammograms and other preventive screenings.

“These bills show a heinous disregard for the health and well being of women in America,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). “This election was about the economy, so I do not understand how this Republican Congress can move from that mandate…towards ‘how do we undermine women’s reproductive health?’

Added Gillibran, “This is an egregious example of not only overstepping but a misjudgment of what the American people want.”

Female Senators Stand Up For Women’s Health

John DuBois, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

According to a group of female U.S. Senators, women have to pay one and a half times more for health insurance than men nationwide. In addition, the Senators said that women tend to need more hospital care then men making them more susceptible to higher rates.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Barbara Mikulski (D-M.D.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) spoke at an event called "Standing Up For Women’s Health" Thursday along side National Women's Law Center Co-President Marcia Greenberger.

“If we look at statistics, its estimated 64 million women lack....health insurance. Over half of medical bankruptcies are filled by female headed households. [For} too many women and their families, getting quality healthcare is not available for them today,” Shaheen said.

“Women want healthcare reform and they want it now,” Klobuchar said.

The Senators said that the majority of individual health insurance policies in the U.S. do not cover maternity care because it is considered to be a pre-existing condition.

“As you think of these women who are already battered and in a weak and vulnerable state and to find out they can’t even go see a doctor which is a part of their recovery and they can’t even mend because they have been domestically abused. This is why it’s important to get rid of these pre-existing condition rules,” Klobuchar said.