Having just spent half an hour reading that congress document, I feel confident in saying that it is not "...dripping with contempt for democracy and decency." Ms. Gallagher is simply being sensational, a "quality" which is further enhanced by the ludicrous comment that "a growing number of young people appear to reject the idea of abortion as a right." That opinion was based on the observation that a "national pro-life campaign aimed at teens [is] garnering more public attention."
There's also quite a large section on HIV/AIDS in those memos, which has apparently been ignored.
Quote:
...As interpretations of norms acknowledging reproductive rights are repeated in international bodies, the legitimacy of these rights is reinforced. In addition, the gradual nature of this approach ensures that we are never in an ‘‘all-or-nothing’’ situation, where we may risk a major setback. Further, it is a strategy that does not require a major, concentrated investment of resources, but rather it can be achieved over time with regular use of staff time and funds. Finally, there is a stealth quality to the work: we are achieving incremental recognition of values
without a huge amount of scrutiny from the opposition. These lower profile victories will gradually put us in a strong position to assert a broad consensus around our assertions...
(Italics mine.) Maggie Gallagher is pretty selective of what she chooses to comment on.
Quote:
...We have been leaders in bringing arguments for a woman’s right to choose abortion within the rubric of international human rights...Bolstered by numerous soft norms, the assertion with widest international acceptance is that a woman’s right to be free from unsafe abortion is grounded in her rights to life
and health.
Quote:
...The Center’s commitment to reproductive rights includes a woman’s right
to control if and when she becomes pregnant. We considered possible ways that we may be able to expand our work in the area of contraception, including potentially focusing on: (a) funding restrictions (e.g., restrictions in Medicaid, Title X, and in abstinence-only programs); (B) government restrictions, both on a macro and micro level (e.g., statutes and or regulations; police harassment of sex
workers by destroying condoms; school policies that prohibit condom distribution);
...
Quote:
...III. Misleading Information
Articulation: This area includes the following issues, which we believe contain misleading information by definition, or often incorporate misleading information: (1) abstinence-only education; (2) abortion/breast cancer link; (3) crisis pregnancy centers (‘‘CPC’s’’); and projects by anti organizations such as Life Dynamics Inc. (‘‘LDI’’) that distribute misleading information. The most noteworthy project by LDI was their campaign to public schools indicating that a school, or school employee, could be legally liable for distributing reproductive health
information to students...
Just a few more excerpts from the memo. While I don't think the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute is a stellar choice for unbiased information, most of the memos appear to be there.
Maggie Gallagher's stance appears to be "information and education is bad" as well as "abortion is bad." Considering her affiliations, this isn't unexpected, but to condone abstinence-only education programs (a very poor idea if there ever was one) and the inability for people to have access to contraception isn't going to help society out at all, and with reference to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, it could be devastating, as there is so much misinformation about the disease.
Likely more later, but I think one of those rolling blackouts is coming soon. Stupid cold making everyone use all the electricity... :strongsad:
:ninja: