On January 31, the Bush administration declared that a developing fetus should be eligible for government-funded health insurance for low-income children, marking the first time that a federal program has attempted to define childhood as beginning before birth.
Administration officials say the proposal is intended purely to extend health care to more women during pregnancy. This proposal is not about providing prenatal care or expanding coverage for pregnant women. This is about the administration using new language to accomplish its real goal--granting legal personhood to a fetus. This is a ploy to create legal grounds for outlawing abortion.
We must not allow this language to create a legal pathway making all abortions under all circumstances a crime.
If the Bush administration is sincere about improving healthy childbearing, it should provide state funding for pregnant women.
This regulation comes after one of Bush’s first acts as president-- hours after taking office, Bush halted U.S. aid to international family planning organizations. This was a deliberate trick to sidestep the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave women the right to seek an abortion.
Please sign this important petition to help keep a woman’s right to choose a right she keeps. Bush said it himself during the State of the Union address that respect for women was among a list of "non-negotiable demands for human dignity.” He is not backing up his words with actions.
Dear President Bush,
I urge you to not use your power to redefine when a fetus becomes a child. This will obviously lead to preventing abortions from happening because they would be a crime.
I believe the decision about whether or not to choose an abortion should be a woman's choice, not the government's. I urge you to use the power of the Presidency to protect our freedom to make our most personal decisions without government interference.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
