Obama congratulated for overturning global abortion funding ban

In order to help balance this article does the author happen to know how many women die because they have had an abortion please?

I can't say whether all women around the world will be congratulating Obama (who incidentally has sanctioned the continuation of torture and rendition) for his move.
But I'd like to see more emphasis given to providing free contraception world wide,
better and equal rights for all women and better support for women who have unplanned pregnancies who don't want to have abortions. Also, I'd like to see free sex education given to men and the Church be prevented from poisoning people's minds against the use of contraception and sex education.

There are many countries throughout the world where feminists and supporters of women rights never use the word abortion as it is never in their vocabulary. I know of some African Feminist activists who do not think in terms of abortions and have founded schools for children who were born as a consequence of rape.

As an Universalist Human Rights activist I abhor and oppose those countries that punish women for having abortions - this practice should be condemned by the UN and sanctions should be brought against governments who punish women who have abortions.

By the Way - You Don’t Have to be Religious to be Pro-Life

Live & Let Live! is a radical universal ethic, atheist and agnostic group, which opposes war, the death penalty, euthanasia, abortion and poverty, because they are violations of the Right to Life and not because of any religious or moral reasons. We believe that ethical conduct between people engenders Respect, Peace, Justice & Reconciliation. We see The Right to Life of people as inseparably entwined and interconnected with the right to a life free from cruelty, injustice, violence, poverty, fear, discrimination and oppression and we support tolerance of different ways of living, cultures, race, and beliefs. We use the 'common ground' approach with our opponents and campaign in a positive spirit unhindered by religious or party political dogma to stop the State Killing.

The Right To Life
The Right to Life is protected by Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 therefore, we oppose any violations to the Right To Life on the grounds of human rights and not on a religious or political basis, whether by:

1. War - we oppose all war (and the arms trade) and in particular the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and urge that the Troops Come Home! We promote peaceful, non-violent conflict resolution and support the Movement for Abolition of War.

2. Abortion - We oppose abortion (where a woman’s life is in real and imminent danger, though we accept the need to separate the mother and child by early delivery, making every attempt, if possible, to save both) and we support women’s rights, free access to non-violent and confidential family planning, including free contraceptives and sterilisation; we support people who choose to give their “unwanted” baby for adoption and we support pro-life feminism and the consistent ethic movement.
Our opposition to abortion is based on the scientific fact that human life begins at fertilisation (see Natural History Museum) and not on any religious or moral grounds.

3. Euthanasia - We oppose medical treatments that cause death to patients and any move to introduce assisted suicide or euthanasia. We campaign to ensure that mentally and physically disabled, infirm and elderly people obtain their full rights and that their right to life is fully respected.

4. Eugenics - we oppose the eugenic practice of screening pregnant women for disabled babies in time for an abortion. We support ethical scientific medical studies and condemn vivisection of born and preborn disabled humans, and other animals and gene therapy that abuses preborn humans.

5. Executions – we oppose the death penalty in all countries and extra-judicial killings whether the deaths occurred in prisons, police cells or elsewhere.

6. Globalisation - we are anti-globalisation, because it, controlled by World Trade Organisation, International Monetary Fund and World Bank contributes to world poverty that causes millions of deaths. We expose the link between population control, profit making and government social engineering, which lead to violations of the right to life.

HUMAN LIFE IS SACRED
"Man creates his own values, his own rational and effective attachments and his own motives for action. To live is not enough, he needs reasons to live. But without life there are no reasons to live, no values. Life, therefore, as the essential condition of all values, must be cherished above them all, and must be held sacred. Any counterargument is invalid because the mind that advances the argument would not be there if life were not respected..... As sacred, human life must not be destroyed, or played with, or impaired, or wilfully and callously exposed to afflictions." by GIOVANNI BALDELLI from his book ? "SOCIAL ANARCHISM".

Respect the Lives of Animals
Millions of animals are exploited every day for food, consumer products, so-called 'sports' or other forms of entertainment, as models for human disease, or are simply neglected. Issues of major concern include intensive farming, the use of animals in scientific research and testing, improper companion animal care and ongoing pressures on wildlife. We have a duty to protect animals from suffering. Defending animals is about upholding the right to life; particularly, a cruelty free life. We Support the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF ANIMAL RIGHTS.

COMPASSION FOR ALL
"Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too." (Frederick Buechner)
We have equal compassion towards animal races as that of the human race. Too often the popular media put down people who show compassion towards animals. We are told animals have no feelings – are not sentient – but for people who are close to animals they know this is complete nonsense.
Similarly, we show compassion towards women who are faced with deciding on an abortion. At such a time a woman should receive support and understanding and not judgement or a moralistic telling off.

The Aims of Live & Let Live!

1 We challenge the mass media stereotype of pro-life people all being religious. We are pro-life and not religious - we are atheist and agnostic! We expose the censorship of secular pro-life views by the media and the distortions of the pro-choice organisations that ignore the existence of pro-life feminists.

2. We challenge organisations like Amnesty International & Human Rights Watch to be consistent in their support for human rights – see the briefing by Debby Wakeham called “The Right To Know – A Briefing on Abortion”.

3. We want the existence of secular pro-life groups and non-religious consistent right to life campaigners in the UK, USA and elsewhere to become better known and understood. For instance, groups like: Feminism and Nonviolence Studies Association – Consistent Life - Feminsists For Life of America – Atheist and Agnostic Pro-Life League (AAPL) Libertarians for Life (LFL) – Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL)- Left Out – 21st Century Prolifers – Democrats for Life – Student LifeNet – Progressive for Life – Labour Life Group – Prolifers Against Clinic Violence - Pagans for Life – Natural Rights – Writers Against Violence – Progressives for Life – Common Ground.

4 We promote the secular case for the consistent right to life and for the right to be different and promote respect for diversity. We tackle subjects ranging from euthanasia of disabled preborn babies to gay men facing capital punishment or torture in countries that oppress gays, like Iran, Nigeria and Jamaica.

5 We distance ourselves from the so-called “Pro-Life” movement, e.g. SPUC and LIFE. They call themselves pro-life but they have done more harm than good to the cause for the right to life. We say that they are not really pro-life as they exclude the rights of the disabled, they don’t mention war, death penalty or poverty. With regard to abortion, we’re not judgemental towards women who have abortions – we understand their plight and have compassion for how they feel before and after the abortion. We highlight the reasons why women consider abortion in the first place, e.g. a pregnant woman may lose her job or home if she doesn’t have an abortion – that is not women’s liberation!

6 We want to bring the Human Rights Act 1998 to life in society through our initiative called Human Rights Action.

7 We promote the rights of animals not to be treated in a cruel way or to be killed by humans for meat, vivisection or any other reason; we believe there is a natural universal kinship between people and animals and we highlight everyday examples of how animals show us they are our friends.

If you wish to know more about any of the subjects above please contact us now at: Live & Let Live!, Debby and Peter Wakeham, (Founders), 5 Muirfield, Bushmead, LUTON, Bedfordshire, LU2 7SB. Email:  kittyplant@btinternet.com

Killing unborn children has no place in the 21st century where conraception is freely available

there would be no need for abortion, but the world we live in is far from ideal. Given that in a lot of the world contraception *isn't* freely available, and this isn't a choice anyone takes lightly, the choice needs to be available.

Also, the "scientific fact" that life begins at fertilisation? I'm sceptical.....

Do you think rapists use contraception or only rape women who are on the pill? What about the victims of incest? What about when contraception fails? What about women who cant afford contraception or who live in places where there is no contraception? What about women who dont want children, or who already have some and cant afford to have any more?
Anon, your comment stinks of privilege, wake up and start living in the real world where women should, can and will decide what happens to their own bodies and lives!

Of course it is right that a woman should have control over her own body. But such a right can't be extended over the control of somebody else's body - the Pre-Born human.

For further information for HMMMMM regarding when human life begins please refer to a GCSE course on Biology - I believe all the facts can be found there.