What an Understatement!!

In one of those over the top doom and disaster pieces that are a staple of liberal "journalism", Michelle Goldberg wrote a piece in the Daily Beast called "How a GOP Win Could Spell the End of Reproductive Health for Global Women". That's right, if Obama loses, women around the globe will die in childbirth and illegal abortions. The slaughter will be unimaginable!

I know I should not make light of the possibility that someone may die, but the premise of the article is so bizarre and ridiculous that I just have to. Ms. Goldberg whose writing on so-called "reproductive rights" puts her firmly in the most strident group of abortion supporters, claims that it is the obligation of the USA to fund contraception programs in all of the developing world. She uses as her example the country of Liberia where the Obama administration spent about 3 million dollars last year on contraceptives and counseling. According to Ms. Goldberg, it the Republicans are elected, these funds could be cut off. She does not claim that the funds would be cut off, just that they could be cut off. Amazingly, after she tells us how important these funds are in Liberia, Ms. Goldberg never actually looks at the results of the expenditure. According to the UN, in the last year for which data is available, Liberia had the third highest rate of population growth of any country in the world. That's like number 3 out of 200. This is the great success that Ms. Goldberg is touting. Clearly, she should be calling it a failure, not a success.

The real issue here, however, is this: when did it become the obligation of the USA to foster birth control in underdeveloped nations? Where are the Chinese in this? Certainly China has the world's most developed population control methods; they make it illegal for families to have more than one child. As a result, there is rampant abortion, particularly for female children. Folks in China actually have to endure sanctions if they have more than one kid. Maybe if the Chinese were unleashed to do the same in Liberia, the birth rate could come down there.

The simple truth is that the question of birth control in Liberia is the responsibility of the Liberians, not America. Ms. Goldberg's view is a remnant of a racist and colonialist mentality where the western mother country knows what is best for the poor Africans in the "colony". Ms. Goldberg is so immersed in this colonialist/racist worldview that I wonder if she even realizes what she is saying. In her mind it is, of course, the USA which will determine the course of events in Liberia rather than the Liberians themselves. She needs to open her eyes to reality.