I really don't like getting political on my blog. I'm generally not very active when it comes to political issues. I especially don't like getting into American politics. However, I'd like to share something with you that made me proud to be Canadian.

Are any of you familiar with the Global Gag Rule? Essentially, the Bush government passed restrictions on overseas Family Planning Organizations. They can not do anything that could be considered pro-choice (ie: perform abortions, counsel about abortions, or lobby governments for access to abortion services). If they did not agree to these regulations, they could no longer get (unfortunately) vital funding (both money and contraceptives) from the US.

Sucky, eh?

Ironically, the intended goal of the rule was to limit women's access to abortions. You know what? The incidence of abortions has not gone down. In fact, it's predicted that the numbers will go up because, duh, they are no longer receiving shipments of contraception.

Anyway, this obviously affects the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). They are not immune. They are also in the situation of having to comply to the gag rule. The Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada actually resigned from the International Federation in protest (yay!). They have since returned, contingent on changes to the rule.