Democrats don’t want George W. Bush in bed

  CHRIS BACKLEY/Daily Bruin Fourth-year political science
student Brian Fishman approaches a student on
Bruin Walk about the Republicans’ view on contraceptives.

By Michaele Turnage
Daily Bruin Contributor

Students walking along Bruin Walk Thursday saw pictures of
President George W. Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft in bed
next to a sign proclaiming “Bruin Democrats wants to get
George W. Bush out of our bedrooms!”

Bruin Democrats set up the display, calling both the
president’s recent order to cut funds to international family
planning organizations which promote abortion and Ashcroft’s
stance against contraceptives threats to reproductive rights.

“One of our main obstacles is that Bush is implementing a
lot of policies through the back door,” said Kristina
Meshelski, internal vice-president of Bruin Democrats.

“The more people know about what’s going on the more
able we’ll be to put up a united front against these
policies,” she said.

This is the latest demonstration against Bush’s Feb. 22
reinstatement of the “Global Gag Order” policy. The
policy denies federal aid to international family planning
organizations that either provide or promote abortions.

While some are disturbed by Bush’s decision, many agree
with his action, said Bruin Republican Steve Davey, who is also a
member of the Undergraduate Students Association Council.

“This is a step in the right direction,” Davey said.
“President Bush is bringing morals and virtues back to the
White House after an eight-year hiatus.”

Although using federal funds for abortions has been illegal
since 1973, federally funded clinics were able to promote or
provide abortions using other funds. Bush’s recent action
places a “gag” order on these clinics, requiring them
to stop making public statements about abortion in order to
continue receiving federal funds.

“In effect it is putting them in a stronghold saying that
you have to pretend that abortions don’t exist or you will
receive no funding” said Meshelski, a second-year philosophy
student.

According to Meshelski, the federal funds in question provide
impoverished countries with prenatal care, contraception and
counseling.

Bruin Democrats addressed Bush’s ability to appoint
Supreme Court Justices such as Ashcroft, who opposes birth control
and the “morning after” pills.

“We want people to know that abortion is on thin ice, and
with the appointment of John Ashcroft, contraception is also in
danger,” said Bruin Democrat Natasha Saggar, a second-year
art history and history student.

But Carlos Vega, a fifth-year history student, said these
changes won’t affect abortion policy in the United
States.

“I don’t think it is a Pandora’s box for the
banning of abortions in America,” Vega said, adding that
recent changes are representative of the more conservative view of
Bush’s administration.

Third-year political science student Shirin Raza said she
completely disagrees with Bush’s recent legislation.

“Abortion is always going to be necessary for whatever
reason … rape, incest … and we shouldn’t take away this
right,” she said.

By taking away federal aid from family planning organizations,
Raza said, the Bush administration is denying women in recipient
countries the right to have an abortion.

“If America doesn’t fund them, then other countries
will follow our example, and they probably aren’t going to
find funding anywhere else,” she said.

Doug Clarke, a first-year graduate student at The Anderson
School at UCLA, said reproductive rights shouldn’t be a
political issue but an individual decision.

“I don’t agree with (abortion), but I don’t
want to put my beliefs on other people,” he said.

“I have a hard time seeing charitable organizations get
their funding or not get their funding based on their
beliefs,” Clarke said.