Former President George W. Bush Breaks From His Party’s ‘War On Women,’ Advocates For Women’s Health Abroad
Samantha
2012/07/07 20:48:24
Since leaving the White House, former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush have pursued humanitarian work abroad in an area that has become particularly contentious for Republicans at home: women’s health. The Bushes recently opened a women’s health clinic in Zambia, a country that has the second highest rate of cervical cancer in the world.
The former president made a push for bipartisan initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS during his time in office. In the years since, he has raised over $85 million for cervical cancer programs. Bush explains his commitment to women’s health in moral terms:
BUSH: We care because we believe that to whom much is given, much is required. And those of us, who live in America, live in the most blessed nation ever and therefore when we see suffering, we ought to act. But the saddest thing of all is to know a lady’s life has been saved from AIDS but died from cervical cancer. And so starting in Zambia, the Bush Center, along with our partners, are going to put on a cervical cancer crusade to save lives.
There is much more work to be done to bolster global health, but supporting preventive services for women — rather than cutting funds for women’s health issues across the board, as many Republicans in this country have elected to do — is a good start.
The former president made a push for bipartisan initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS during his time in office. In the years since, he has raised over $85 million for cervical cancer programs. Bush explains his commitment to women’s health in moral terms:
BUSH: We care because we believe that to whom much is given, much is required. And those of us, who live in America, live in the most blessed nation ever and therefore when we see suffering, we ought to act. But the saddest thing of all is to know a lady’s life has been saved from AIDS but died from cervical cancer. And so starting in Zambia, the Bush Center, along with our partners, are going to put on a cervical cancer crusade to save lives.
There is much more work to be done to bolster global health, but supporting preventive services for women — rather than cutting funds for women’s health issues across the board, as many Republicans in this country have elected to do — is a good start.
Read More: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/10251...
Top Opinion
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ProudProgressive 2012/07/07 20:53:17
+7Why do I get the impression that George is starting to have nightmares about all of the soldiers whose blood is on his hands and all of the suffering in this country that he's directly responsible for. It's good to see him do something positive, probably for the first time in his life, even though he obviously has no motivation other than to try to salvage his unsalvageable legacy.
The one person he listened to was Laura. Initially her job was to play librarian and just make a few photo ops reading to kids. But somewhere along the way, Laura picked up on women's issues... at home and abroad. She starting making trips to South America with the twins and talking about women's issues. More and more, she was invited to be a key speaker. Laura, who said she could never talk to an PTA audience. Then came the big face off.... a teacher in the UK got her azz in trouble for allowing a classroom puppet to be named "Mohammed". All sheet broke loose and Laura was on the first plane to stand with that teacher. Her very calm presence was noted.
More and more women's initiatives world wide wanted Laura here, there and everywhere. So George's legacy will always be... 9/11 and two wars Cheney wanted . But his greatest legacy is Africa. George and Laura just returned again after a mission that includes health and women's issues ( breast cancer) ...one that Pres. Obama and Michelle support 100%.
Now, who would have expected this? All the costly missteps and loss of lives in George's wars for oil... but he will be a hero after all... thanks to Laura.