By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
 
Unless concerned citizens act fast, the U.S. House is expected to pass legislation today that will establish the Office of Global Women’s Issues which will pressure countries around the world to provide “reproductive rights” to women and to overturn laws restricting homosexual and transsexual behavior.

The creation of this office is contingent upon the passage of the State Department reauthorization bill (H.R. 2410), which is scheduled for a House floor vote today, June 10.

The bill is backed by pro-abortion Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who announced before the Foreign Affairs Committee on April 22 that “We are now an administration that will protect the rights of women, including their rights to ‘reproductive health care,’” which commonly refers to abortion on demand.

Apart from funding abortions overseas, H.R. 2410 also targets a  handful of hot-button social issues such as pressuring other countries to overturn laws that restrict homosexual and transsexual behavior. If passed, the bill will also force Foreign Service workers to undergo “sensitivity training” on the issues of “sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Pro-life congressmen are fighting back, however. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) tried to pass an amendment in the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would restrict the Office’s work on abortion, but it was defeated.

Instead, a toothless amendment was added which says the bill does not affect “existing statutory prohibitions on the use of funds to engage in any activity or effort to alter the laws or policies in effect in any foreign country concerning the circumstances under which abortion is permitted, regulated, or prohibited.” 

“This is a sham, because the law described here does not exist,” says Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director of the National Right to Life Committee.

Rep. Smith refuses to give up, however. If House Democrats allow it, Smith’s colleagues will have the chance to vote on his amendment to bar the office from acting as a global abortion clearinghouse.

Concerned citizens are urged to call their congressmen today and urge them to vote against H.R. 2410.

Visit http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ to find contact information for your representative.

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