Right-Wing Extremists Threaten Women's Rights All Over the World

By Gillian Kane, AlterNet. Posted June 17, 2009.

With the exception of a few countries, most nations in the world allow abortion for at least some indications.  Still, abortion stigma is so culturally pervasive that many women do not use legal facilities to terminate their unwanted pregnancies but instead self-induce under dangerous conditions. Because of the stigma, governments have little incentive to ensure that legal services are available and many doctors are unaware that women have the right to request legal abortions in their hospitals and clinics. Instead, antiabortion organizations use their political influence and dangerous rhetoric to punish and endanger women.   

In this country we can observe in the wake of Tiller’s murder a certain reinvigoration of the antichoice movement. Rather than stepping back to evaluate how they contribute to hostility toward women and providers, the anti-abortion movement is continuing to stick to its message.  The repeated refrain is that they don’t condone Tiller’s killing but that, after all, he “murdered unborn children.” 

Human Life International (HLI), a Virginia-based organization that claims it is “the largest prolife movement of Catholic orientation in the world,” is a perfect example of this global approach. They are clearly not ready to tamp down on its war of words. Indeed, their public statement following Tiller’s murder offers no apology:  

George Tiller, the mass murderer of Wichita, Kansas is dead. “Those who live by the sword, die by the sword,” said the Lord…   Can killing a mass murderer be considered “justifiable homicide”? The short answer to this is “no,” but it is not always apparent why…  

HLI provides financial and material support to affiliates around the world to pressure governments to reject liberalizing abortion laws, while simultaneously creating a cultural climate that stigmatizes abortion and the women who get them.  Its activities are focused on the developing world where abortion is already legally restricted (including in Mexico and Brazil), and where women often risk their lives to end an unwanted pregnancy.   

Given the history of U.S. antichoice organizations working to recreate the hostile social environment around abortion abroad, is it just a matter of time before a Scott Roeder appears in South Africa or India?

See more stories tagged with: abortion, reproductive rights, india, mexico, brazil, tiller, contraceptions

Gillian Kane is senior advisor for Ipas, an international reproductive health organization that works to end deaths and injuries from unsafe abortion."

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