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NEWS & LETTERS, December 2004WOMENWORLDWIDEby Mary Jo Grey President Bush and his Republican Congress snuck into a $388 billion budget measure an attack on women's freedom. The bill, passed Nov. 20, allows health care companies, hospitals and insurance companies to ignore Roe v. Wade, and limit access to abortion and even counseling that mentions abortion as a legal option. It expands the federal law that allows doctors to refuse abortion training. Even THE NEW YORK TIMES recognized: "the Republican war on reproductive rights has entered an ominous new phase." * * * The number of women infected with HIV has risen in every area of the world over the past two years, reported the UN in their annual report issued for World AIDS Day, Dec. 1. Women make up nearly half of infected adults—with the largest increase in East Asia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa, where women account for nearly 60% of people infected. In the U.S., AIDS is among the top three causes of death among Black and Hispanic women aged 15 to 34. Dr. Peter Piot, director of the UN AIDS program in Geneva, pointed to the necessity for treatment and prevention to focus on women. Only a disproportionately small number of women are receiving anti-HIV drugs—mainly because they cannot afford them. * * * On the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Nov. 24, hundreds of women rallied in Kabul, Afghanistan. "Afghan women suffer from violence from the womb of their mothers until the end of their lives," said Shukria Barekzai, who runs a weekly women's newspaper. The situation of Afghan women improved following the collapse of the Taliban, but intimidation and violence continue. |
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