About 40 percent of the world's three billion or so women live in countries that, to one degree or another, usurp that control or deny that right. And, of course, in our own country, a sharp struggle is raging over that right. Defending women's right to autonomy of her own body and self-determination is a basic principle for those who are fighting for a democratic society, for a better world, a humane world. We are not overstating when we say that this fight for the right to abortion is a matter of life and death.
Illegal abortions claim tens of thousands of lives annually, across the globe.
Hundreds of thousands of women experience permanent injury, including sterility. The struggle has taken on new importance under this ultra-right president. On Bush's first day in office, he blocked funds to international family planning programs. In one quick act, Bush sentenced many women around the globe to illness, injury and death. The right to abortion has always been under attack in this country.