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Religious Leaders Urge U.S. to Fund Abortions for Rape Victims in Conflicts Abroad Religious Leaders Urge U.S. to Fund Abortions for Rape Victims in Conflicts Abroad
(35 minutes later)
WASHINGTON — A coalition of religious and human rights leaders on Thursday demanded that President Obama support the financing of abortions for women raped during violent conflicts overseas by members of terrorist groups like the Islamic State in Syria and Boko Haram in Nigeria. WASHINGTON — A starkly worded ad began appearing this week at bus stops near the White House. Next to a silhouette of President Obama’s back reads the words: “Don’t walk away from women and girls raped in conflict. Act now.”
In a harshly worded resolution, the leaders of several Jewish, Christian and Muslim groups accused the president of talk rather than action in addressing the grim fate of women and girls by refusing to direct the United States government to help pay for abortions in cases of rape in foreign countries. A coalition of religious and human rights leaders on Thursday followed up the advertisement with demands that Mr. Obama support the financing of abortions for women raped during violent conflicts overseas by members of terrorist groups like the Islamic State in Syria and Boko Haram in Nigeria.
“President Obama has spoken compassionately about women and girls raped in war and conflict, but has failed to act on that compassion,” the coalition says in a draft of its resolution. The coalition scheduled a news conference for Thursday afternoon at St. John’s Episcopal Church across from the White House. The leaders of several Jewish, Christian and Muslim groups accused the president of talk rather than action in addressing the grim fate of women and girls by refusing to direct the United States government to help pay for abortions in cases of rape in foreign countries.
“President Obama has spoken compassionately about women and girls raped in war and conflict, but has failed to act on that compassion,” the coalition said.
Federal law prohibits the United States government from using foreign assistance funds for the “performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions.” The law, known as the Helms Amendment — originally sponsored by Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina — has banned the use of federal funds for overseas abortions since 1973.Federal law prohibits the United States government from using foreign assistance funds for the “performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions.” The law, known as the Helms Amendment — originally sponsored by Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina — has banned the use of federal funds for overseas abortions since 1973.
But the religious groups said Thursday that the Helms Amendment mentions only family planning and should not be viewed as restricting the use of federal funds to make abortions available in cases of rape or incest. They said Mr. Obama should — issue an executive order to make government funds available for that purpose. But the religious groups said Thursday that the Helms Amendment mentions only abortions used as a method of family planning and should not be viewed as restricting the use of federal funds to make abortions available in cases of rape or incest. They called on Mr. Obama to issue an executive order making government funds available for that purpose.
Advocates for the change concede that no administration, Democrat or Republican, has interpreted federal law to allow the use of foreign assistance funds for abortions in rape cases since the Helms amendment went into effect more than four decades ago. At a news conference at St. John’s Episcopal Church across from the White House, a dozen members of the coalition criticized Mr. Obama for refusing to do something to help brutalized women.
But they said that high-profile episodes of rape by Islamic State fighters and others have brought new public awareness to the problem. And they said the capture and rape of women and girls in Nigeria by Boko Haram should increase the pressure on Mr. Obama to change United States policy. “Right now, President Obama is failing to stand with women and girls raped in conflict,” said Serra Sippel, the president of the Center for Health and Gender Equality.
“Rape is a tool of war, and in the midst of that hell, women and girls who have survived atrocities deserve access to comprehensive post-rape care, including access to compassionate abortion,” the Rev. Harry Knox, the president of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, said in a statement Thursday. “That’s what loving your neighbor looks like.” Sara Ratcliffe, a director at Catholics for Choice, said advocates had “spent six-and-a-half years pleading, prodding and shouting to be heard, but no avail. This administration continues to bend a knee to the religious extremists.”
White House officials referred questions about the policy to the United States Agency for International Development, which would administer that kind of foreign aid. A spokesman for the agency declined to comment on the record. White House officials referred questions about the policy to the United States Agency for International Development, which administers that foreign aid. A spokesman for the agency declined to comment on the record.
Mr. Obama has repeatedly mentioned his concern about women and girls being raped in conflicts around the world. In a prime-time address in September 2014 about the Islamic State from the White House, the president said ISIS fighters “enslave, rape, and force women into marriage.”
He spoke about the subject again later that month in a speech at the United Nations, saying that “mothers, sisters, daughters have been subjected to rape as a weapon of war.” And at a recent prayer breakfast, Mr. Obama said that the terror group claimed “the mantle of religious authority for such actions.”
But Mr. Obama’s critics said that those high-profile episodes of rape by Islamic State fighters, and the capture and rape of women and girls in Nigeria by Boko Haram, have not prompted Mr. Obama to act in the face of what would most likely be intense opposition from anti-abortion activists and members of Congress.
“We are asking for the president not to put politics ahead of women,” Ms. Sippel said.
Advocates for the change concede that no administration, Democrat or Republican, has interpreted federal law to allow the use of foreign assistance funds for abortions in rape cases since the Helms amendment went into effect more than four decades ago. But they said they had hoped Mr. Obama’s administration would be different.
Last year, Mr. Obama’s wife, Michelle, posted her support on Twitter for hundreds of Nigerian girls kidnapped by Boko Haram. In her post, a grim-looking Mrs. Obama held up a handwritten sign that says #BringBackOurGirls.Last year, Mr. Obama’s wife, Michelle, posted her support on Twitter for hundreds of Nigerian girls kidnapped by Boko Haram. In her post, a grim-looking Mrs. Obama held up a handwritten sign that says #BringBackOurGirls.
The religious leaders said Thursday that Mrs. Obama’s sentiment would mean little if her husband did not change the policy on abortion.The religious leaders said Thursday that Mrs. Obama’s sentiment would mean little if her husband did not change the policy on abortion.
“Access to safe abortion is as critical as the peace process in conflict resolution,” said Jaqueline Mutere, a woman from Kenya who was raped during postelection violence in 2007, said in a news release issued before the news conference. Jaqueline Mutere, a woman from Kenya, said at the news conference that she was raped during postelection violence in her country in 2007. She said she tried three times, unsuccessfully, to get an abortion and ended up having her baby.
The coalition is being led by a group called the Center for Health and Gender equity, which has been pushing the Obama administration to act for more than a year. Some of the groups, like the Central Conference of American Rabbis, are large. Others, like Muslims for Progressive Values, are smaller. “We have heard him speaking,” she said of Mr. Obama. “Now we want to see his action.”
Last year, the Center for Health and Gender Equity and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Change helped to organize a letter to the president on the subject, signed by 33 religious leaders and women’s advocates. The letter states that it is “unacceptable — and in fact immoral — for our nation to continue to apply the Helms Amendment incorrectly.” The coalition is being led by a group called the Center for Health and Gender Equity, which has been pushing the Obama administration to act for more than a year. Some of the groups, like the Central Conference of American Rabbis, are large. Others, like Muslims for Progressive Values, are smaller.
Some of those same advocates met with administration officials earlier this year, and have attended rallies in front of the White House. On Monday, the group installed ads at nine bus shelters near the White House aimed at Mr. Obama. Last year, the Center for Health and Gender Equity and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice helped send a letter to the president on the subject, signed by 33 religious leaders and women’s advocates. The letter states that it is “unacceptable — and in fact immoral — for our nation to continue to apply the Helms Amendment incorrectly.”
“President Obama: Don’t walk away from women and girls raped in conflict,” the ads read. “Act now.” On Monday, the group installed the ads aimed at Mr. Obama in the bus shelters.
“We faith leaders are here today to call the moral question,” said the Rev. Harry F. Knox, the president of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. He said members of the coalition were scheduled to meet with the White House Council on Women and Girls on Thursday afternoon.
“Our previous meetings, though polite, with high level officials, have not resulted in action,” he said. “So today’s the day we ask him to act, yet again.”