THE JEWISH CHRONICLE FEBRUARY 3, 2011 — 21
ENVIRONMENT Dignity and respect needed Photo courtesy CIMMYT/Flickr
The Obama administration’s reinstatement of funding to the United Nations Population Fund helps the agency’s efforts around the world to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.
Reducing global population pressures
Earth Talk By the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine
Dear EarthTalk: Global population numbers continue to rise, as does the poverty, suffering and environmental degradation that goes with it. Has the U.S., under President Obama, increased or at least restored its family planning aid to developing countries that was cut when the Bush Administration first took office? T. Healy, via e-mail The short answer is yes. President Obama is much more interested in family planning around the world than his predecessor ever was. One of Obama’s first acts upon assuming office in 2009 was the restoration of funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). George W. Bush had withheld some $244 million in aid to the UNFPA over the previous seven years. UNFPA works with developing countries around the world to “reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.” Reinstated U.S. funding will help the agency pursue its goals of universal access to reproductive health services, universal primary education and closing of the gender gap in education, reducing maternal and infant mortality, increasing life expectancy and decreasing HIV infection rates. Along with restoring UNFPA funding, Obama also overturned the so-called “Global Gag Rule” that prohibited groups funded by the U.S. Agency in International Development from using any government or nongovernment funds for “providing advice, counseling or information regarding abortion, or
lobbying a foreign government to legalize or make abortion available.” Foreign nonprofits were already not allowed to use U.S. funds to pay for abortions, but the Global Gag Rule—first instituted as the “Mexico City Policy” in 1984 by the Reagan White House, then overturned by Clinton and later reinstated by George W. Bush — went further by restricting the free speech rights of government grantees and stifling public debate on the contentious topic. Foreign NGOs that accept U.S. funding still cannot perform abortions, but can discuss the options openly with the families they serve. “For too long, international family planning assistance has been used as a political wedge issue, the subject of a back and forth debate that has served only to divide us,” said Obama upon overturning the policy as one of his first acts in office. “It is time that we end the politicization of this issue.” Of course, advocates for increased family planning are pressuring the Obama administration to step up its efforts aboard even more. The Institute of Medicine, one of four government-affiliated nonprofit “academies” of experts, recommended last spring that the U.S. increase its spending on global health by some 50 percent over the $63 billion pledged by the Obama White House over the next six years. Groups providing family planning services domestically would also like to see the Obama administration step up funding for their programs, not only to improve the quality of life for American families but to save money and reduce abortions as well: A 2009 report by the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute concluded that publicly funded family planning services at both hospitals and non-profit clinics saves taxpayers $4 for every $1 spent by preventing nearly two million pregnancies and 810,000 abortions per year. (Send your environmental questions to: EarthTalk®, c/o E – The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. E is a nonprofit publication. Subscribe: emagazine.com/subscribe.)
MORNING SERVICES - 9:30 A.M. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6: HARRY ADLER, ESTHER ALPERN, RIKA F. BARKUS, LOUIS BLOCH, LOUIS BORCHARDT, SAM BRENNER, ETHEL BURKE, HENRIETTA CAPLAN, IDA DANENBERG, MARY ELENBAUM, JACK A. FEINGOLD, MORRIS FINKELSTEIN, CHARLES FRIEDBERG, ABE I. FRIEDMAN, ROSE GOLDENBERG, MARY GOULD, HERMAN GREEN, MILTON GREENFIELD, CARL GUSSIN, JACHIEL HAUS, JOSEPH HOREWITZ, HEIMIN S. JACOBSON, ISADOR JAEGER, SADYE JUDD, JACOB KRAMER, ALLAN KRAUSS, JACK LEFF, LENA LEFKOWITZ, DAVID LEVEN, LIBBIE LEVY, ABRAHAM A. LINDER, DORA MALLIN, AARON MALLINGER, BELLA W. MARKS, SAM MILLER, SAMUEL G. MILLER, REGINA NEUGASS, SOLOMON NEUSTEIN, BETTY F. PAULL, EMANUEL PERLOW, MAX RAND, MINNIE ROTH, IDA SCHWARTZ, NATHAN SCHWARTZ, ALICE SHAPIRO, LILLIAN SIEGMAN, MIRIAM SILBERMAN, DORIS L. SILVERMAN, JULIUS SILVERMAN, RUTH SLOTEKEVICH, IRVING LEWIS STUTZ, MD, JANINA WINKLER. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7: LOUIS AZORSKY, ESTHER BENKOVITZ, WILLIAM BERGER, ELAINE BERKOVITZ, MAX BERKOVITZ, SARAH LOUISE BERNSTEIN, JACK E. BRODY, RENA BURKE, REBECCA DRESNER, JACOB FEIGENBAUM, BELLE F. FINN, ANNA R. FOSTER, DOROTHY FRANKEL, ELIZABETH GREEN, ROSA HERSKOVITZ, ALEX HERTZ, EPHRAIM HURWITZ, LOUIS HYTOWITZ, HERBERT D. JONES, RALPH KALSON, GIZELLA KOVACS, ALVIN LAIBMAN, MARY LEVIN, ROSE S. LEVINE, SAMUEL H. LEVINE, ORIN J. LEVY, TILLIE LIPSON, MAX A. LOEVNER, REBECCA LOVE, JANE MARGOWSKY, LUCILLE R. MERMELSTEIN, LENA NESVISKY, DORA OBERLIN, MENDEL PERIL, MEYER RABINOVITZ, PEARL R. ROSENBERG, ROSE L. ROSENTHAL, IDA R. ROTH, JOSEPH ROTH, SIDNEY S. SAPPER, MAX H. SCHINDLER, EDWARD SCHLESSINGER, SADIE SCHWARTZ, FANNIE SHULLMAN, ALBERT SIGAL, NAOMI CONN SILVERMAN, NATHAN SILVERMAN, MAX SOLOMON, ROSE SPANDAU, BESSIE SWARTZ, NACHMAN TABACHNICK, BENJAMIN TEPLITZ, SAMUEL WALKOW, HENRY WEINBERGER, MOLLIE WEISMAN, LENA ELIZABETH WIZENBERG, ABRAHAM YORKIN, PHILLIP ZAKOWITZ. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8: SAMUEL H. BEGLER, HELEN BUCK, DAVID CANTER, LEONARD CHOTINER, MINNIE COHEN, YETTA COHEN, LENA COOPER, BARBARA FINK, GOLDIE FRANK, GOLDIE FRANK, NETTA FRUHLINGER, SAMUEL GESCHEIDT, DANIEL GLICK, ROSI GOLDBLATT, ESTHER D. GOLDMAN, CHARLES GOLDSTEIN, HAYA K. HARRIS, SAUL I. HELLER, HARRY HIRSCH, HYMAN J. JACOBSON, LENA KITMAN, LILLIAN KLEIN, GUS KLINE, SIMON KRAUS, JEANNETTE G. KURTZ, JACOB LADERMAN, HARRY LANDAW, ABRAHAM LEEBOVE, LOUIS L. LENCHNER, MORRIS LEVINE, MAURICE LEVINSON, ROSE LEVY, WILLIAM LIFF, LYNETTE A. LONDON, FRED H. LUDIN, SAMUEL MANDEL, SAMUEL MANDELL, ETHEL MARETZKY, ROSE MENDLOW, SOLOMON J. METLIN, EDYTHE MOSS, YITZCHAK AARON NADLER, MILTON D. PATZ, FANNIE PERIS, BENJAMIN PERLMAN, ROSEMOND PLANT, DAVID C. POLLOCK, SADIE RESNICK, LENA ROBIN, ABRAHAM ROSEN, PINCUS P. ROSENTHAL, MURRAY RUBENSTEIN, SARAH RUBINSTEIN, MINNIE O. SAUL, IRWIN SCHATZ, EDWARD SCHUGAR, JACK I. SEGAL, JOSEPH SEGAL, MOLLIE SEIGER, MOLLIE SIEGER, IKE SKIRBLE, JACK STEINFELD, FANNIE SUGGARS, ANNA TARSHIS, ABRAHAM VENZERUL, SAMUEL WASSERMAN, BELLE G. WEINER, DONNA MAE ZIMRING, NATHAN ZUCKER. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9: SOPHIE ANISMAN, FANNIE BALFER, LOUISE BEHR, ABE P. BENNETT, SANFORD R. BERMAN, SAM BOCHNER, THEODORE CHERTOFF, ELSIE B. COHEN, JOSEPH COHEN, ABE I. DANIELS, SAMUEL ENDICH, LIBBY ETTA GOLDSTON, WOLF GORDON, JULIA WISE GORMAN, FANNIE HERMAN, HAHUM HERSCHELN, DR. LEON HIRSCH, DR. HARRY KALET, FRANK A. KAMINS, JACK M. KANE, JACOB KLEINMAN, MARY LANDO, LOUIS R. LEVITH, ELLA LEVY, DR. YALE S. LEWINE, BERTHA LOMASK, LOUIS LUTERMAN, ALYCE H. MANDELBLATT, BENJAMIN D. MILLER, SADIE MILLER, ALEX MOSCOV, ESTHER NAUHAUS, BENJAMIN POLLACK, MARWIN D. RUBENSTEIN, ESTHER RUDKIN, HARRY W. SAMOLSKY, IKE SCHLESINGER, MORRIS SCHMIDT, JACOB SCHOEN, DAVID SCHWARTZ, FRANCES B. SIGAL, ISAAC W. SOLOMON, HELEN O. TUNNARELLO, SAMUEL VEINEGAR, MORRIS S. WERTHEIMER, ANNA S. WILKOFF, HARRY ZALEVSKY, MOLLIE ZEIDMAN. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10: MARY ALPERT, DORA G. BERNSTEIN, MICHEAL CANTOROVICH, DORA DAVIS CAPLAN, ALEC W. CHINN, GERTRUDE CHIZECK, GOLDIE CHUSSETT, NOAH COHEN, SARA F. COHEN, SAMUEL ENDICH, FLORENCE FARKAS, BAER FRIEDLANDER, MIRIAM J. GLICK, ANNA GOLDBERG, RUTH GOULD, ISIDOR HOLLANDER, MARVIN KLEIN, SOPHIA KRASIK, SOPHIE LEBOWITZ, BUDDY LEVENSON, LEON LEWIS, REGINA LITTLE, NATHAN MANN, ADA MORRIS, LOUIS RAYMOND, FANNIE ROSEN, LOUIS B. ROSENBERG, JEROME ROSENBLOOM, ISAAC L. ROSENFELD, JOSEPH SANDERS, CHARLES SCHWARTZ, SARAH L. SHAPIRO, SYLVIA D. SHRIVER, JACOB SNOW, JACOB OWEN SPECTER, MD, SIDNEY STARK, DAVID STERN, HENRIETTA STRENG, RAYE SUPOWITZ, HELEN WEINBERGER. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11: BESSIE BARINGOLTZ, SAM BENKOVITZ, BERNARD BERKMAN, HENRIETTA BUCK, ISAAC CAPLAN, ROSE CHERKOSKY, JULIUS CLOSKY, JACOB DAVIS, ALBERT FARBER, SAMUEL FARBSTEIN, FRANCES A. FEINBERG, DR. ABRAHAM FINEGOLD, FANNY FINKELSTEIN, ISRAEL FIREMAN, DOROTHY FISHER, ETTIE K. FRANK, HARRIS FRIEDMAN, ABRAHAM GREEN, ROSE GRUMMER, LOUIS M. HARRIS, JACOB HERMAN, IRA KLEIN, CHARLES KOROBKIN, ABRAHAM Z. LAVINE, MORRIS S. LEVINE, TILLIE LIPPOCK, ELI LIVINSTON, ANNA LYTTON, IDA MEYERS, JOSEPH MILLER, HARRY B. ORRINGER, M.D., ABRAHAM PEREIRA, HAROLD B. POLLACK, REVA M. RATNER, LILLIAN S. ROMANOFF, FANNIE R. ROSENFIELD, IRWIN I. SARON, BETTY B. SHER, ETTA SILVERBLATT, DAVID SOLOF, DORA STADTFELD, ANNA STERN, JOSEPH SUNSHINE, RACHEL TALENFELD, MAX L. WECHSLER, ALBERT WEINBERGER, PHILLIP WEINBERGER, BENJAMIN WOLK. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12: ELLA ALPERN, GERTRUDE ATLAS, RASHEL BROWARSKY, SAMUEL J. BURKE, RUTH CHELL, JULIUS COHEN, BERNARD COTTLER, GERTRUDE CRIEP, JACOB FIBUS, FRANK FINKELSTEIN, ANNA FISHER, ISADORE FLEEGLER, EMIL GLICK, DORA GOLDFARB, EVA GOLDSTEIN, EDWARD GREEN, CELIA GRINBERG, MEYER HART, RUTH G. HERMAN, ROSELLA B. HORVITZ, HAROLD LEVINE, BESSIE R. LEVINSON, DINAH MARTIN, JAY CALVIN MILLER, ALBERT MORGAN, BELLA OPPENHEIM, GOLDA POLESETSKY, JOSEPH PORTER, ABE RADER, SAMUEL REZNICK, STANLEY E. ROSENBLOOM, MD, ABRAHAM RUTSTEIN, CLARA SCHLEIFER, BELLE SELKOVITS, YETTA SHAPIRO, ETHEL SIEGAL, CHAIA SPECTOR, BESSIE STEIN, ROSE STEINBERGER, JOSEPH STEINER, ALICE STRAHL, SAMUEL TYSON, REBECCA WELTMAN, ESTHER WERTHEIMER, JENNIE WHITMAN, MAX WIKES, ROSE ZIFF.
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