Where the Mexico City Policy matters the most

Sponsored by AMA News 

=>

(CNN)

She has five children and works as a farmer in Budadiri, Uganda, east Africa.

"I want to look after my children," Mudua says. "But I am a woman alone, and any time a man could force me into sex and I could get pregnant."

Women like Mudua, thousands of miles away from Washington and the White House, are the ones starting to feel the reverberations of US President Donald Trump's Mexico City Policy, reintroduced in January amid a slew of executive orders from the newly inaugurated President.

Mudua currently receives her contraception from Marie Stopes Uganda, a non-profit that provides family planning advice and sexual health services across the country.

"I'm going to be OK because I will not have to give birth to a child I don't want on my own," she says.

But for Mudua and others like her, things are about to change.

Named after the venue of the conference where it was first announced by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, the Mexico City Policy, also known as the "global gag rule" withholds American aid (USAID) from any international non-governmental organizations that offer women advice on abortion.

Marie Stopes Uganda says that 94% of its outreach work, which aims to bring contraception to women in rural and remote areas, is funded by USAID.

It estimates that these funds will start to dry up around September, which over the next three years could result in an extra 1.1 million unwanted pregnancies in Uganda alone.

'US funds never used for abortions'

Any criticism leveled at the President for the manner in which he signed the order (surrounded by a group of white men) or the potential impact on global health services was drowned out by the widespread condemnation and confusion that met Trump's controversial travel ban announced three days later.

Now organizations that offer abortions as part of their family planning services -- or even refer patients to other clinics that can perform abortions -- will be prevented from receiving any assistance at all from the US Agency for International Development, one of the largest contributors to international development assistance.

Melesse says it's going to have a huge impact. "We're going to be losing around 100 million US dollars over the next three to four years."

'Unequivocal' evidence

Major reproductive care NGO Marie Stopes International says complying and removing safe abortion from its services isn't an option.

The evidence is "unequivocal," says Marjorie Newman-Williams, Marie Stopes' vice president and director of international operations, that doing so would expose women to increased potential dangers.

According to the latest WHO data, 21.6 million women annually are so desperate that they gamble with the risk of life-threatening injuries or even death to have unsafe abortions. Every year 47,000 women die from complications.

"Agreeing to the Mexico City Policy would mean accepting their fate and turning our backs on the very women who need us most," says Newman-Williams.

In 2003, shortly after the policy was last introduced by George W. Bush, the Center for Reproductive Rights published a report highlighting horror stories from women who'd sought out surgery from the wrong practitioners.

In one example, a poor 17-year-old house help wanted to terminate her pregnancy.

The person she went to see "did not know the anus from the vagina," one Kenyan NGO reported. "He destroyed her anus, rectum, uterus and some of the small intestine."

Contraception conundrum

Newman-Williams says that laws attempting to stop women from having abortions don't work because they don't stop the need for women to have abortions in the first place.

And, paradoxically, as NGOs lose funding and are less able to provide contraception, the number of unwanted pregnancies is only likely to increase, which drives up the demand for abortions.

Washington-based Impassioned Advocates for Girls and Women reports that after the last reinstatement of the policy in 2001, shipments of US-donated condoms and contraceptives completely stopped to 16 developing countries -- mainly in Africa.

Family planning providers in another 16 countries (also mainly in Africa) lost access to condoms and contraceptives because they refused to accept the conditions of the Mexico City Policy.

One healthcare worker on the ground in Uganda told CNN she currently issues contraceptive injections to between 30 and 50 women a month.

"Women will walk for many miles to a health clinic and find that they cannot provide the services," says Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) volunteer Akiiki Jemimah Mutooro. RHU anticipates it will lose $420,000 in funding.

"If we are unable to continue this service, many women will lose out."

The reduction in access to contraception will also have a profound impact on the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including the battle with HIV, according to IPPF.

"All the effort the United States has made over the years to support funding for HIV Aids initiatives is going to be affected by telling organizations who have received funding ... that they cannot inform the patient about abortion," says Melesse.

She decides?

Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to be one of the hardest-hit regions, says Marie Stopes International's director of strategy, Maaike van Min.

It's the largest recipient of American aid and already has more abortion-related deaths than any other continent.

She says a lot of work is being done on domestic financing, but social welfare systems are still in their infancy across much of the developing world and there are competing priorities for scarce resources. "It will be a challenge to try to meet the funding gap," she says.

In February, dozens of governments and private philanthropists pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to a global fundraising initiative called She Decides, launched by Dutch Development Minister Lilianne Ploumen.

In 2002, the European Commission came forward and said it wanted to make up the shortfall after Bush's reinstatement of the policy. This was an important move, says Melesse, because it proved "the US cannot tell the world how women's health and sexual reproductive health should be handled."

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer says President Trump has always made it very clear that he's pro-life and he's staying true to his pre-election promises.

"He wants to stand up for all Americans, including the unborn, and I think the reinstatement of this policy is not just something that echoes that value, but respects taxpayer funding as well," Spicer said in a press briefing at the time.

In January, Republican Congressman Chris Smith, chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, lauded the move in a press release.

"Organizations like Marie Stopes International and the International Planned Parenthood Federation have reported performing over 1 million abortions annually," Smith said, citing a January 2017 poll where 83% of American respondents said they opposed US tax dollars being used to support abortion abroad -- but omitting that in the same poll 52% of Americans also said they were pro-choice.

The deprivation of this choice for women in less-privileged circumstances is what jars with Melesse the most.

"This government is coming and telling the rest of the world: you cannot have the democracy that the United States has," he says. "That's really the most critical part."

More From this publisher : HERE

=>
***********************************************
See More Here: Where the Mexico City Policy matters the most
************************************
=>

This article was searched, compiled, delivered and presented using  BuletViralTraffic 

=>>

Where the Mexico City Policy matters the most was originally posted by Viral News 2

Supersonic jet service could be landing in Dubai

Sponsored by  FreePLRArticles.biz 

=>

Dubai boldly brands itself as "The Future City," with space age architecture, next-level tech hubs, and paradigm-shifting transportation systems so it's only fitting that the resurgence of supersonic travel could find a home amid all the other next-gen innovations here.

The leaders of Boom, the supersonic jet startup backed by Richard Branson, gave a pitch presentation to the Dubai Future Foundation earlier this week, according to the UAE publication The National.

Boom's founder and CEO Blake Scholl outlined the company's plans for the audience, which included the potential for flights from Dubai to London in under five hours at the same cost of a first-class seat on any other airline by 2023.

SEE ALSO: Flying cars aren't real yet, but these supersonic vehicles already exist

Scholl was invited to give his pitch by the Dubai Future Accelerators, an initiative within the larger Dubai Future Foundation that promotes government sponsorship of future-forward projects. The group had a hand in similar new-age transportation deals that brought Tesla and Hyperloop One to the city.

Boom aims to modernize the 50-year-old supersonic systems originated by the now-defunct Concorde, promising 55-seat jets that fly at Mach 2.2 speeds (1,451 mph). Concorde's service never really took off because of its outlandish cost seats could be as expensive as $20,000 a pop but Boom aims for a more "accessible" $5,000 price.

The startup received its first major round of funding back in March, and has reportedly secured reservations for 25 of the $200 million jets from Branson's Virgin Airlines and other unnamed buyers. The first prototype of the craft, dubbed "Baby Boom," is expected to be ready for flight next year.

Scholl reportedly wouldn't confirm or deny questions about plans with Middle Eastern airlines, like Emirates or Qatar Airways, but said he's "open to meetings with all interested parties."

If Boom does wind up serving Dubai, it would be just the latest aviation innovation to stake out part of the city's airspace. Earlier this year, the city's Roads & Transportation Agency revealed plans for an air taxi service to be in place by this summer, and the city is one of two localities where Uber will partner as part of its Elevate project for flying cars.

WATCH: An all-electric flying car just made its first flight and it's as cool as it sounds

More From this publisher : HERE

=>
***********************************************
Originally Published Here: Supersonic jet service could be landing in Dubai
************************************
=>

This article was searched, compiled, delivered and presented using  TrendingTraffic 

=>>

Supersonic jet service could be landing in Dubai was originally posted by Viral News 2

Apple’s self-driving car spotted out on California streets

Tapper: These Americans have had a rougher 100 days than Trump

Sponsored by  FreePLRArticles.biz 

=>

(CNN)"Many Americans" had a tougher past 100 days -- coinciding with the first months of Donald Trump's presidency -- than the President himself, CNN's Jake Tapper said on "The Lead" Friday.

Tapper responded: "The notion that President Trump thought the job of President of the United States of America would be easier than hosting 'Celebrity Apprentice' and running the Trump business empire is pretty stunning."

Tapper then went on to name a handful of Americans who have had a difficult past few months -- many of them as a result of Trump's policies.

"There's Kraig Moss, who lost his son Rob in the opioid crisis in 2014 and believed Trump when he said he would do something about the crisis. In fact, Kraig supported Trump so strongly he traveled the country to Trump rallies singing the candidate's praises. After the health care bill, Moss says he will never vote for Trump again," Tapper said.

The White House attempted to revive a health care reform package ahead of the President's 100 days in office, but that has not come into fruition.

Tapper then mentioned Emmanuel Ayala Frutos, one of the so-called DREAMers -- people brought to this country illegally by their parents. The President has said he feels sympathy for DREAMers in the past.

"Frutos was brought here when he was 6. Recently, he was held in detention for 18 days. He and other DREAMers live in constant fear as the President cracks down on illegal immigration and they don't know what's going to happen to them," Tapper continued.

Then there's cancer patient Melissa Nance, who's worried about losing her health insurance.

"She's covered by Obamacare now, but insurers are pulling out of her state of Tennessee. Trump said he would take care of this, he said he would fix it, he said it would be easy. but Congress has passed nothing," Tapper said.

"I could go on and on," Tapper continued, "The factory workers who were told by the President that he would bring their jobs back though he has not introduced a jobs bill yet. The troops in harms way wondering if the President has any actual foreign policy strategy or if he's just winging it with them on the front lines."

"These Americans are depending on you, Mr. President," Tapper said, "These are the people who have had a rough 100 days."

More From this publisher : HERE

=>
***********************************************
See More Here: Tapper: These Americans have had a rougher 100 days than Trump
************************************
=>

This article was searched, compiled, delivered and presented using  RSS Masher 

=>>

Tapper: These Americans have had a rougher 100 days than Trump was originally posted by Viral News 2

President Trump, protecting South Korea is not a real estate deal

Sponsored by  SmartQuotes - Your daily smart quote 

=>

(CNN)In President Donald Trump's book "The Art of the Deal," he writes about how important it is to know one's market, to study hard. He wrote that he likes to gather as many disparate opinions and views about a potential real estate deal as he can before making any final decisions about how it will affect a given area or neighborhood.

So it was a bit surprising to hear him say in an interview Thursday night that he expects South Korea to reimburse the United States for the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system we will soon be deploying to Seongju, a system that Trump said costs about a billion dollars.

Seems to me that he hadn't done all his homework. I mean, the United States has already agreed to fund it.

But more broadly, he apparently doesn't understand the contours of our alliance with South Korea or the importance of allies themselves. You see, allies are friends. And friends are folks you count on -- and who count on you. At least that's the way it is supposed to work.

In this particular alliance -- one of the most important in the world -- the stakes could not be higher. President Trump said so himself in an interview with Reuters. As if we needed another reminder, Pyongyang fired off yet another missile just today.

And yet, here he was in that same interview -- and oh, by the way, virtually on the eve of an important national election in South Korea -- utterly and completely surprising his ally with an announcement on THAAD reimbursement.

THAAD system in South Korea almost operational

Replay

More Videos ...

MUST WATCH

I'm betting many in his own national security team were taken aback as well.

And while I'm sure the far left in Korea, which is opposed to the THAAD deployment, found the Trump invoice a helpful little talking point to support their thesis that the United States cannot be trusted, the President also unnerved millions of mainstream South Koreans who fear that the United States is willing to cozy up to China, divvying up the Asia-Pacific region at the expense -- and without the say-so -- of the Republic of Korea.

Even the top foreign policy adviser to presidential frontrunner Moon Jae-in called the payback an "impossible option."

And Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters Trump's remarks could actually run counter to the President's stated desire to show real muscle in his approach.

"Trump's remarks ... will likely boost support for Moon, and if he wins, it will make it harder for the United States to sustain a hardline policy against North Korea. "

It's a strange way, indeed, to treat a friend who is staring down the barrel of a gun while hosting nearly 30,000 American troops on its soil.

And that brings up another thing Trump doesn't appear to understand: his own military. The THAAD deployment is just that, a deployment. And like every other military deployment, while we may need the use of certain domestic facilities and physical sites, it's still our stuff and using it is still our responsibility.

In this case, THAAD was about one thing and one thing only: shoring up the alliance's defensive capability on the peninsula in the wake of repeated provocations by the North.

President Obama said as much at the time of the agreement: "We've worked together to strengthen our alliance, and to ensure our readiness against any threat. Our missile defense cooperation -- THAAD -- is a purely defensive system to deter and defend against North Korean threats."

The United States accomplishes that with this system. The South Koreans accomplish it by giving us a place from which to operate it. That was the arrangement, and it's totally in keeping with the Status of Forces Agreement we signed with the Republic of Korea back in 1967.

It's not clear at all where the President got his $1 billion figure. That's about what the system costs us to buy, but operating costs are much lower. And since we aren't selling it to anyone, it doesn't make much sense to slap a price tag on it.

Plus there's the little matter of scarcity: there are fewer than 10 operational THAAD systems in the American arsenal. Commanders will tell you they need each and every one of them -- and more. Wherever you decide to deploy a system like THAAD, you are by default making a decision about somewhere else you won't be able to deploy one.

It's a zero-sum game for such a precious commodity. So while it makes perfect sense to put one in South Korea right now, we aren't exactly out hawking them out to all bidders.

THAAD is a complicated, technologically advanced system designed to shoot missiles out of the sky. And it belongs to the United States. We own it. We maintain it. We deploy it. Hopefully, we will never have to use it.

And make no mistake, THAAD is just as much -- if not more -- about protecting our own assets, resources and troops on the Korean peninsula as it is about helping protect those of our ROK allies. For the commander in chief to hold it out as some sort of insurance policy on which we wish to extract a premium is to ignore completely the role this system plays in protecting American lives as well.

Join us on Twitter and Facebook

Finally, I don't think the President fully understands the art of this particular deal. This deal is most decidedly not a zero-sum game. Everybody wins.

Our troops and their families are safer. Our South Korean allies are safer. Pyongyang's ability to hit the South with missiles is reduced. China gets the message loud and clear that we mean business about our interests on the peninsula. And our allies and partners -- there and around the world -- take comfort in the fact that the United States will continue to meet its security commitments.

President Trump's team should be commended for the thoughtful, deliberate and strategic approach they have taken to the problem of North Korea's provocations. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was downright sober and succinct Friday at the United Nations, laying out in clear language how seriously the United States is taking the issue and how unafraid we are to lead the rest of the world in solving it, if need be.

In that vein, there is a powerful and important geostrategic purpose to the THAAD deployment, one that far outweighs any cost of putting it there. And the President does a disservice to his national security team -- not to mention our alliance -- when he speaks about something as miserly and mean as reimbursement.

This isn't some real estate deal. It's a nation-state deal, a national security deal. And in deals like this, trust -- not cash -- is the coin of the realm. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump just spent a fortune of that.

More From this publisher : HERE

=>
***********************************************
Read More Here: President Trump, protecting South Korea is not a real estate deal
************************************
=>

This article was searched, compiled, delivered and presented using  BuletViralTraffic 

=>>

President Trump, protecting South Korea is not a real estate deal was originally posted by Viral News 2

Breast surgeon Ian Paterson case: ‘Hundreds’ of other victims – BBC News

Homeland Security chief: Airplane terror threat ‘keeps me up at night’

Sponsored by AMA News 

=>

Washington (CNN)Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Friday that the heightened threat of terrorists taking down a commercial airline is one of his greatest national concerns.

"A thing that keeps me up at night is the intent of terrorists to knock an airplane down in flight," Kelly told CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead" Friday night.

While Kelly acknowledged DHS is doing the "best we can" to guard against threats, the department hears frequent chatter through intelligence networks -- including some that is "real" and "specific" -- which causes it to proceed with an "abundance of caution."

That caution includes a recent ban on large electronics aboard flights traveling to the US from 10 airports in eight countries in the Middle East and Africa. Those devices must now be carried in the cargo hold through checked baggage, according to DHS. The sudden moves, attributed to concerns about potential terrorist attacks, have created additional logistical headaches for airline staff and passengers.

RELATED: Airline electronics ban: What you need to know

Kelly added that he's been in talks with at least one of the 10 airports, which suggested, if the DHS were willing, it would let passengers bring large electronics on the plane with them if they agreed to have them opened up and checked for explosive residue before boarding.

He added that he is considering that proposal.

Also, Kelly called out some "irresponsible" reporting by various news outlets that suggested the ban on electronics from the 10 airports was linked to racial profiling or was targeted to benefit US airlines.

All 10 banned airports are in majority Muslim countries, but Kelly said the religion of the countries was never one of the factors he looked into.

Intelligence reports have indicated that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was perfecting techniques for hiding explosives in batteries and battery compartments. The "threat is real" for airline passengers, Kelly said, adding: "I guess they'd be forced to read a book or a magazine or talk to their kids. I'd rather them have that inconvenience than be a flaming ball of fire at 10,000 feet."

Kelly added that if intelligence showed any other threats he would "have no hesitation" of expanding the limitation on airplanes bound to the US from other countries in addition to the ones already subject to the large electronics ban.

More From this publisher : HERE

=>
***********************************************
Learn More Here: Homeland Security chief: Airplane terror threat ‘keeps me up at night’
************************************
=>

This article was searched, compiled, delivered and presented using  TrendingTraffic 

=>>

Homeland Security chief: Airplane terror threat ‘keeps me up at night’ was originally posted by Viral News 2