Monthly Archives: August 2004

U.S. Withholds $34 Million from the UN Population Fund

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The United States this month announced it would withhold $34 million allocated to the United Nations Population Fund for the third year in a row.

Under the provisions that the UN Population Fund money is allocated, it cannot be given to the agency if the State Department determines that there is a direct link between the UNPF and China’s practice of coercive abortion as part of its one child policy.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said of the withheld funds,

These Chinese programs have penalties that amount to coercion. THerefore we feel, by funding these programs, we would be indirectly helping the Chinese to improve their management of programs that result in coercive abortion, and that’s prohibited by our law.

Feminist Majority Foundation president Eleanor Smeal said of the decision,

Today, the President once again chose ideology over women’s health and rights by denying funding to UNFPA. This decisio means that for the third year in a row, women in nearly 140 countries around the world will pay a price for the president’s decision to appeal to his domestic base.

Not surprisingly, the Feminist Majority Foundation didn’t have a single thing to say about China’s coercive one-child policy.

Sources:

US cuts UN funds in abortion row. Jill McGivering, The BBC, July 17, 2004.

U.S. Blocks Aid to U.N. Population Fund. Barry Schweid, Associated PRess, July 16, 2004.

State Department refuses to fund the UNFPA. Feminist Daily News Wire, July 16, 2004.

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New York Times Causes Controversy, Accusations of Bias with Article about Abortion

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The New York Times created quite a controversy earlier this year when it published an account of one woman’s decision to have an abortion. The Times didn’t disclose that the woman in question was a prominent abortion rights activist and the reasons she gave for the abortion read like a right wing parody of the pro-choice movement.

The essay describes the decision Amy Richards made when she found out she was pregnant with triplets. Richards decided to abort two of the fetuses. The article identified Richards as a freelance writer, but left out the fact that she has also worked for Planned Parenthood and is a founder of the Third Wave Foundation which, among other things, has paid for abortions.

But what pro-lifers seized on was Richards explanation that she aborted the two fetuses largely for lifestyle reasons. Richards told the Times’ Amy Barrett,

“My immediate response was I cannot have triplets. I was not married; I lived in a five-story walk-up in the East Village; I worked freelance; and I would have to go on bed rest in March. I lecture at colleges, and my biggest months are March and April. I would have to give up my main income for the rest of the year. There was a part of me that was sure I could work around that. But it was a matter of, do I want to? I looked at Peter and asked the doctor: ‘Is it possible to get rid of one of them? Or two of them?’ The obstetrician wasn’t an expert in selective reduction, but she knew that with a shot of potassium chloride you could eliminate one or more.”

Elsewhere in the article, Richards complained that if she actually went through with having the triplets, “I’ll have to start shopping only at Costco and buying big jars of mayonnaise.”

All-in-all the article was an early Christmas present for the anti-abortion movement. Way to go, Amy.

Source:

When One Is Enough. Amy Richards as told to Amy Barrett, New York Times, July 18, 2004.

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Judge Rules Kobe Bryant’s Lawyers Can Use Some Information about Accuser’s Sexual History

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The judge in the Kobe Bryant case ruled in that some limited information about his accuser’s sexual history would be admissible at trial.

District Judge Terry Ruckriegle ruled that details about the woman’s sexual activities in the three days before her July 1, 2003 rape examination are relevant to the case and would be admissible. Bryant’s defense team is apparently going to argue that injuries found during that rape exam could have come from other sexual acts the woman engaged in immediately prior to the July 1 exam. They also apparently will argue that it is not credible that the woman was raped by Bryant and then turned around and had sex with at least one and possibly a number of other individuals immediately afterward. There is also some suggestion that the woman’s sexual activities immediately after the alleged rape may contradict what the accuser told police.

A number of experts speculated that the case may yet fall apart with this ruling. Larry Pozner, former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, told the Associated Press,

This case is just going to have a massive accumulation of evidence that targets the credibility of the accuser. In most sexual assault cases the complaining witness is the strength of the case. In this one she’s the weakness of the case. This evidence is as damaging a set of facts as a prosecutor could ever have to contend with and one wonders if at long last the accuser will pull the plug on this case.

But as Southwestern University School of Law professor Bob Pugsley noted, the ruling was consistent with Colorado’s rape shield law and would likely survive any appeal by prosecutors,

We’re not talking about remote history, we’re not talking about anyone else other than the alleged victim’s own statements against Kobe and her own behavior, which can be scientifically documented through the DNA samples on the underwear that she wore to her examination.

Sources:

Kobe Accuser’s sex life can be used in trial. Associated Press, July 23, 2004.

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Portugal Tries Two Women and Their Midwife for Participating in Illegal Abortion

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In July, Portugal put on trial three women accused of participating in an illegal abortion. Two of the women were charged with having an illegal abortion, while the third was a midwife charged with performing the abortion.

Portugal has strict laws that only allow abortions to be performed in the case of rape or serious health risks to the mother, and then abortions can only be performed through the 12th week of pregnancy. Undergoing an abortion other than under these conditions is punishable by up to three years and jail and performing an illegal abortion is punishable by up to eight years in jail.

According to Agence France Presse, family planning groups estimate that anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 illegal abortions are carried out every year in Portugal.

Source:

Abortion trial resumes in Portugal. Agence France Presse, June 22, 2004.

International petition calls for acquittals in Portugal abortion trial. Agence France Presse, July 6, 2004.

Three women stand trial for abortion in Portugal. Feminist Daily News Wire, July 8, 2004.

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Assistant Principal Charged with Sending Herself Threatening Letters

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San Marino High School assistant principal Mary Andrea Mitchel, 41, was arrested in July and charged with sending herself 39 threatening letters that she claimed a number of students had sent her. Mitchel faces 123 counts that carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail.

The letters were sent between March and November of 2003, and some of them included a white powder. Mitchel gave police the names of seven students she thought might have sent the letters. The students were investigated but no arrested were made.

Mitchel was given special police escorts and surveillance before, according to prosecutors, admitting that she had sent the letters herself. Some of the letters apparently also threatened the schools resources officer, Jim Henson, with whom Mitchel was romantically involved, and she was charged with threatening Henson.

Mitchel’s attorney, Michael Maycock, portrayed the letters as a plea for help,

She was attempting to extricate herself from a situation she couldn’t’ put up with. That was a cry for help.

Mitchel plead not guilty on all charges.

Sources:

Asst. Principal Accused of Faking Hate Mail. Associated Press, July 21, 2004.

Ex-school official’s bail slashed. Gene Maddaus, Pasadena Star News, July 27, 2004.

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