Sen. Clinton Champions Women's Health Worldwide

Late on election night, I received an email from a Planned Parenthood staff person, Njeri Wahome, in Nairobi, Kenya. Njeri wrote to me to verify what she was seeing on television -- that Senator Obama had won. "Can it be true? We are over the moon ... at the making of history." For a woman who has dedicated her life to improving the health of women and children in her home country, Njeri knew that a change in U.S. administration could have a dramatic impact on women in Kenya. For the past eight years, the Bush administration has enforced a global gag rule, an executive order that prevented thousands of health care entities around the world from providing women with birth control. In some parts of Africa, women have a one-in-10 risk of dying in childbirth. And as Nicholas Kristof wrote in the New York Times in October, the result of the so-called "pro-life" policy has likely been tens of thousands of additional and avoidable abortions each year. In addition to implementing the gag rule, each year the Bush administration has denied funding to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, at the behest of the far right -- money that would have paid for the provision of critical reproductive care.

Today, the incoming administration will generate another celebration by women all around the world when President-elect Obama names Hillary Clinton as our next secretary of state. The selection of Senator Clinton represents an important first step down a new path for American foreign policy -- an enormous shift represented by the selection of a champion of women's health and rights to be in charge of America foreign policy.

As first lady and as a U.S. senator, Hillary Clinton visited more than 80 nations, but for a majority of the world's population, her unique quality may be her gender. Senator Clinton understands that improving the status of women is not simply a moral imperative; it is necessary to building democracies around the globe. Improving the status of women is key to creating stable families, stable communities, and stable countries. Women's ability to control the size of their families, regardless of economics, nationality, or culture, has a direct impact on their economic well-being and that of their children. Senator Clinton understands that women's quality of life directly affects the major issues confronting the globe: national security, environmental sustainability, and global poverty.

In a speech that, by the standards of the Bush administration, sounds positively radical, Clinton addressed the Cairo Plus Five Forum at the Hague in 1999, saying, "Women's reproductive health and empowerment are critical to a nation's sustainability and growth ... we now know that no nation can hope to succeed in the global economy of the 21st century if half of its people lack the opportunity and the right to make the most of their God-given potential. No nation can move forward when its women and children are trapped in endless cycles of poverty; when they have inadequate health care, poor access to family planning, limited education."

What a new day it will be when we can quit fighting with our government over the need to bring health care, education, and equality to women in every country -- including our own. Let's hope for a swift confirmation for our new secretary of state and celebrate her taking on this enormously important assignment. To Njeri and the thousands of women like her who see the impact of U.S. policy every day -- it is the true beginning of the 21st century.

Comments

[alex76]

Thanks. You said for me. Hillary and Bill have been highly regarded worldwide, more than any people the old and new administration. This is one of the wisest pick from Obama.

For some Obama’s supporters: be rational rather than hatred.

[hosshoss777]

Why do I have this sneaking suspicion that Hillary Clinton wasn't Barack Obama's choice for anything at all?
Just check out the look on his face in the picture. That's funny, in a sad, " I did all this work and made all those promises to get people to believe in me and vote for me for this?", kind of way.
Oh what's the use, they own us all including the President Elect, and most don't even suspect.

Obama will be just like Bush in the sense that he will come in and be overwhelmed by events and forces not of his choosing, make choices not of his choosing and be glad to see the day approach when he will take his by then grey haired self back home to stay.

[StillIRise]

I am confident that EVERY selection Obama made is HIS choice! If Obama could be pressured by Hillary to give her a position that he didn't want to give her, he would have been pressured into selecting her for his VP running mate ... which he didn't, in spite of the unrelenting pressure on her behalf from her surrogates, her supporters and the media. As SOS, Hillary will no longer be an independent voice, but Obama's voice; it will not be her policies she will be promoting, but Obama's policies, and it will not be her vision she will be shaping, but his vision.

Unlike Bush, both Obama and his cabinet, the cabinet HE chose, will be prepared for unexpected events and forces not of their choosing; and also unlike Bush, when Obama leaves the White House, he will be leaving with dignity.

[hosshoss777]

For sure, one of us is hopelessly naive.
But thanks for responding.

[bluepearl2001]

I seriously doubt that Barack is worrying about what Hillary's appointment means to this one or that one. He has serious work to do and he was smart to bring Hillary on board. She's a team player and she will make us proud. And make Barack proud as well. Let's get on board and stop worrying about all the pre-election prattle. Barack is in charge and Hillary will love working with him. Let's give BOTH of them our support and get something done for a change. Yahoo for Barack and Hillary!!

[nana4g]

I thought his facial expression and his "protective" arm as they exited said that he realizes how unfairly some people think of her and he is adamant about expressing his opinion of her which is he respects her for all the reasons he said. He knows what he is doing and I believe he does not like it one bit what all the spin and hype is over her which he knows to be a bum rap because he knows how she works and why she works and so does Joe Biden who said what he thought of her in front of a huge rally that almost brought me to tears. Get over it people. She is not perfect, no one is, but she is NOT what she has been painted to be. Not even Palin got the same deal Hillary gets from MSM and the public!

[Gail54]

Yay hillary!

[Overd0g]

Please tell me that we're not STILL in the "nation building" business. Good grief.

[bluepearl2001]

Amen to that.

[TAIsabel]

DITTO!

[ibsteve2u]

Seems to me that an awful lot of "prominent Americans" find it easy to champion causes "all over the world" while giving America short shrift.

[Fuji]

Bingo.

[flossophy]

ibsteve2u.­.. why shouldn't we "spread the wealth" around the world... "I think it's good for everybody" when we do.

How much wealth and prosperity do you think we should have before trying to help other impoverished nations along?

[pangurban]

It is great to have someone of Hillary Clinton's talent and stature addressing these issues. How different from the candidate who callously put air quotes around women's health during his campaign.

[BinBaldwin]

Sipping TEA with other 1st Ladies is not foriegn policy.

[Charlie M]

No It is not, BinBaldwin ; But don't think for a minute that those wives do not have influence with their husbands. You sound as if you haven't learned that males are not the superior sex yet.

[bluepearl2001]

I beleive Hillary likes COFFEE. With 2 lumps for your negativity­...

[BinBaldwin]

Obama said Hillary had no foriegn policy experience. This is nothing more than political patronage.

[granforchange]

You got that right !!! She is Not a Champion for Women's Rights, Let alone Human Rights, she is in this for Her Own ego...

[texun]

Gran: Get out your reading glasses and check out Hillary's stands on women's issues. She has been a champion for women's rights.

[bigkay]

Check with the women of Northern Ireland she is held in high esteem for bringing people together to end the troubles. HRC is respected around the world for her knowledge and advocacy America can be proud to have her as Secretary of State.

[StillIRise]

Is this your first experience with politics? A lot of things are said in the heat of a primary contest, none of which has anything to do with putting a government together that works and getting things done.

[AsISaid]

It occurs to me that perhaps Hillary should have stayed in the Senate to pull up her sleeves and fight for health care rights, instead of taking her ego trip with the State Department. Given the fact that health care legislation has the best chance it's ever had to come to fruition under Obama and the new majorities in Congress, Hillary up and bolts. She breaks no new ground by seeking and accepting this post - women have already held this position. She will be carrying Obama's water on foreign affairs - unless SHE believes she will be viewed as some kind of Prime Minister of the US.

[Charlie M]

You may be right, AsISaid , but lets give her a shot at this new job before we shoot her down eh ?

[Emlyn]

As I Said, I wonder what you would have said, if Hillary was a man. I can bet your comment would have been very different and you would have been happy that a man got the position.

[HillaryGoAway]

Despite the grandiose title "Senator Clinton Champions Women's Health Worldwide" nowhere in the post is there any substantial proof of this said championing. All this post does is state, in a fanciful way, that Hillary is a woman, that she visited 80 countries and that she gave a speech on women's reproductive rights in 1999. While I applaud the the substance of her speech, simply giving one speech almost ten years ago, in my opinion, doesn't quite live up to the description of worldwide championing. As SOS, Hillary will finally actually have to prove herself. No more hype. No more resume padding. No more minions constantly inflating her experience. Obama has given her a great opportunity to actually earn the accolades that she has been receiving for years. Hillary has said one of her favorite expressions is "Bloom where you're planted". We'll see if she chooses to blossom.

[granforchange]

I agree with Your Post One 100 Percent, time will tell...

[Horsefeather]

The important point is advancing women's rights globally, which should be a tacit policy priority for the U.S. Secretary of State. Women's reproductive, occupation, and education rights are components of advanced civilization. It is well known from birth rates in more advanced and better educated countries that equal rights result in lower birth rates. Fundamentalism in America and elsewhere is a fading struggle to keep people within the strict limits of tribal codes of behavior with a hierarchy of control. Thinking outside the box drives people imbedded in fundamental dogma and hierarchy to a fear fueled frenzy of rage. If humanity is to continue along its path of development, it will shed the absurd limits imposed on individuals by outdated tribal codes while retaining the nurturing aspects of belonging. The greatest lie to overcome is that there has to be a winner and a looser. It will be a long time coming. At the moment international terrorism is the most dramatic reaction, but it exists on so many levels. Tyranny of the mind is rampant.

[DHFabian]

Well, I am thankful that H. Clinton wasn't chosen to head the Dept. Health and Human Services, but concerned about her sometimes-­unprofessi­onal "bad attitude" when anyone contradicts her. Working within the State Dept. requires strong diplomatic skills that haven't been evident in Hillary Clinton to date.

What sticks in my mind is the fact that she was a leading architect of those social policies that transferred public dollars out of aid for our neediest, for the purpose of helping to cover the costs of annual "tax relief" for corporations and the richest 1%. The consequences of these policies (welfare reform) include an infant mortality rate among America's poor that now rivals that of most Third World nations, and a plunging life expectancy for our poor, now below that of most Third World nations. (Of course, it is the rich, not the poor, who finance political careers). This tells us a great deal about her priorities and her moral integrity.

[Charlie M]

Well DHF Your fact is not a fact . Those things you give her credit for are straight Republican dirty tricks and no good Democrat would even think of doing them. So please stay off the spin .

[aslotkin]

Hasn't anyone noticed that our previous two Secretarys of State were women? I don't understand why this is being treated as something unusual. Right now appointing a man would be an unusual event.

[hopefullee]

Colin Powell is a woman?

[StillIRise]

LOL.

[111]

What a new day it will be when we can quit fighting with our government over the need to bring health care, education, and equality to women in every country -- including our own.

Let's start with our own. We don't do so well with healthcare in general and we are ranked behind Cuba, France, the UK, etc. in infant mortality rates

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html

Perhaps Africa, and the rest of the world including us, should look to countries who do better with health care than we do. Singapore has the lowest infant mortality rate and the cost to the government is contained -
* There are mandatory health savings accounts
* consultations with private practitioners for minor ailments must be paid from out-of-pocket cash..."
* "The private healthcare system competes with the public healthcare. Private medical insurance is also available.­"
* Private healthcare providers are required to publish price lists.
* The government pays 80% of "basic public healthcare services."
* The government provides optional low-cost catatrophic health insurance, plus a safety net "subject to stringent means-test­ing."

http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2008/01/singapores_heal.html

I had to edit out a lot of info because of HuffPo constraints. It's a good article and I think that
Obama should look at countries that know how to keep their citizens healthy, educated and employed for ideas and I hope he does.

[BlueZoo]

I lived in Singapore eight years and, trust me, you don't want to have their health care, even with private insurance - which I had in abundance! When my son became very ill, we went to our provider in Singapore and, after many tests, he walked into his office with a book open to what he believed was the diagnosis. This was followed with "we can't treat him here." We flew back to the US the next day! There are trade-offs to healthcare systems like Singapore's. Firstly, it is a benevolent dictatorship under which no dissent whatsoever is tolerated. Secondly, wages are horrible and the work for those low wages is back-breaking at best. There is no utopian dream in Singapore or anywhere else!

[darthdarcy]

Well one thing that would be good towards Women's Health would be if we can get Iraqis we are dying to defend and wasting billions to support, to stop killing their wives and daughters in "honor killings" for as cheap as $100.00..i­f that..!

[flossophy]

darthdarcy­... what do you think we've been trying to do over there?

[Fabienne]

I think we've been trying to gain control over the oil reserves. Far more women in Iraq have died has a direct result of our invasion than have died at the hands of their husbands. In fact, women in Iraq, before the invasion, had more equality than women in most other Muslim countries. It was only when the Shi'ite took control of the government that their situation began to change. Far more women die in Afghanistan at the hands of their husbands than ever did in Iraq, but, of course, we put our resources in war against the latter, with the backing of both Clintons, among others.