By: Paige Rohe

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”-Declaration of Independence

Have all men in the United States been treated as equally as they were created? It took
the woman's suffrage movement, the Civil Rights movement, and the rise of feminism
to change the definition of a ‘man’ to include all people in humankind rather than an elite few. Even though the right to vote is now guaranteed to men and women regardless of their race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status, both women and minorities in this country are still struggling to overcome centuries-old oppression.

The Declaration of Independence was a remarkable move forward in the West’s quest for equality. Yet even after we had placed the lofty tenants of that document on display for the whole world to be inspired, we still committed atrocities like Slavery, the Trail of Tears, and World War II internment of Japanese-Americans.

Even now, after we have presumably learned our lesson, there are still injustices occurring in this country. Were one to simply examine the status of women in the United States, we would learn that they are, across the board, not earning  earning the same salaries for the same work as men do.

Maternal an infant mortality is unfortunately still high among minorities,
and female same-sex couples are still fighting for legal recognition.

Sure it’s bad that the “Land of the Free” has made and continues  to make so
many mistakes against its own citizens. But, despite all our sins, we’re not
doing so badly compared to the rest of the world.  Overall, the standard of
living in the US is very high. Literacy is high and we’ve got a trillion
dollar yearly government budget that’s supposed to pay for things like
healthcare for the impoverished and lawyers for people on death row.

But what about the effect of US foreign policy on people in other lands, people who don’t have the same governmental ‘guarantees’ to equality that we do? Are we truly promoting the right to ‘ the pursuit of happiness’ wherever we go? I’m not just talking about removing racial, ethnic and religious oppression from the face of the earth. I’m talking about ensuring that babies aren’t dying from maternal and neo-natal tetanus and that
women aren’t forced to work in the sex trade to pay off their family’s debts.  
 
Sure we can’t impose our values on other cultures in other lands.

But neither should a woman face dying in childbirth because she doesn’t have a midwife or doctor to attend to her. Recently the Bush Administration has decided to cut funding for African family planning programs because they offer abortion counseling. The decision couldn’t have come at a worse time. Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of UN Aids says that Africa is in a state of emergency due to Africa’s pandemic of HIV/AIDS.  

Apparently, the Bush Administration doesn’t care that  4 out of 10 deaths due to unsafe abortions in the world are in Africa. Apparently Mr. Bush couldn’t be bothered that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is worst in a region where use of contraception is the lowest, world-wide. 

No, Mr. Bush has absolutely no problem denying condoms to African countries that don’t agree with his policies on family planning.  

It would seem that the Bush Administration would rather be hypocritical in its enforcement of international policies that are domestically unconstitutional. Clearly African woman have abortions and will do so whether “we” approve of the practice or not.

We weren’t imposing our values on their lives until now when we've removed their ability to choose.

Now, we’re telling them they, themselves, have no power to decide whether or not to bring an HIV+ child into this world. Without clinics to turn to, they are no longer in control of their reproductive health.  African women are being left out in the cold once again. Let’s rip the hope right out from under them. Let’s tell them that they’ll have to face death from childbirth.

In fact, here’s a better plan. Let’s just tell them they can’t be free to enjoy the same health care standards and choices that women living in
the United States do.

Let’s forget the American vision of equality and the cost of 200 years of suffering it took to get us as far as we’ve come.  Let’s go back to  policies that make some people more ‘equal’ than others. We’re halfway there already.

Besides, at least under the Bush Administration we can all strive to be equal in one thing, equally foolish.

Paige Rohe is an International Studies student at Emory University and a contributing writer for PurePolitics.com. She can be reached at feedback@purepolitics.com.

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