The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

First, a disclaimer. At least Brownback is talking about the issue of African women’s health care. There are many Democrats who haven’t given the issue 15 minutes, much less trips and press conferences. Discourse is a step in the right direction. That being said…

Brownback yet again shows rank hypocrisy by highlighting the plight of African women with fistula while neglecting to mention his support for the Global Gag rule which restricts third world women’s health care in the name of not sponsoring abortion. His journal entry for Dec. 3rd reads in part:

Today I visited a hospital operated by Doctors on Call for Services Hospital (DOCS) in Goma, DRC. The hospital services patients of all kinds, from traumatic car accident injuries, to war wounds, to children suffering from malaria. One of the major programs at DOCS treats women suffering from obstetric fistula, a condition that results in incontinence, often times from rape or prolonged child birth.

Brownback neglected to mention how the Global Gag Rule (which he supports) has decimated many other clinics. First, a refresher on what the Global Gag Rule entails:

The Global Gag Rule penalizes non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 56 countries that receive family planning assistance funds from the U.S. These NGOs are prohibited from providing abortion-related services, including counseling and referrals, and/or lobbying on abortion issues.

So not only are these agencies not allowed to use US money to provide abortions, refer women to other abortion provider or even provide care to women who have sustained injuries from a back alley abortion but they are also prohibited from using their own money in those ways as well. When President Bush signed an executive order at the beginning of his presidency making the gag rule US policy many clinics decided that not informing women of all of their choices is unethical and so gave up their US funding.

So what does this have to do with fistula?

Simply put, a 12 year old child should not be forced to carry a fetus to term that is the result of rape to satisfy Senator Brownback’s ideological ideals. This is what the current US policy supports. The clinic that Brownback visited was full of women who have suffered the consequences of this policy. The most common cause of fistula is obstructed labor which in turn is common in young girls with their first pregnancy. Some of these pregnancies are the result of sexual violence used as a weapon of war while others are the result of arranged marriages between young girls and much older men.

In a non-Global Gag rule world, US funded clinics would address the full spectrum of the problem. They would fund education and lobbying to prevent the marriage of young girls. They would provide and explain birth control to attempt to prevent a pregnancy. In the event of an unintended pregnancy they would offer abortion services as an option or refer the girl to another provider. If the pregnancy was carried to term they would provide medical care to prevent fistulas from occurring. They would also provide post-natal care to the mother as well as the child.

While abortion could be used to terminate a pregnancy and thus prevent fistula, the actual consequences of the Global Gag Rule go far beyond abortion. Many of the clinics that provided the full range of care refused to disavow abortion as an option for family planning. They found it unethical to leave out a treatment option that might be the safest avenue for some patients. As a result of their dedication to their patients, these clinics lost all of their U.S. funding. Funding that was used for pre and post natal care. Funding that helped fight the arranged marriages of little girls to much older husbands.

Many of these clinics were established in the communities and had gained the hard-won trust of their patients. When they gave up funding they had to drastically cut back on staff and services.

While it may seem a bit complicated, the Global Gag Rule that Brownback supports has led to the deterioration of women’s health care in Africa. While I am glad he is bringing attention to the problem of fistulas, he is an utter hypocrite to advocate for additional health care services when his own petty ideological stance has deprived poor women of health care for years.

For more information on the Global Gag Rule see:

• Access Denied (comprehensive case studies)
• The Center for Reproductive Rights
• Planned Parenthood International

For more information on fistula see:

• Campaign to End Fistula
• Fistula Foundation