The former president of Planned Parenthood blasted government officials at both federal and state levels for their eroding support for women's rights to abortion during an hour-long speech last night. Faye Wattleton criticized both the pending federal regulation prohibiting discussing abortion at federally-funded health clinics and Pennsylvania's conservative abortion laws, which have been challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court. Wattleton, who received an honorary degree from the University in 1990, spoke to an audience in which few people challenged her positions. She spoke after receiving a thunderous ovation at a nearly-packed Dunlop Auditorium. Wattleton vehemently attacked the so-called "gag rule," saying it is a restriction of free speech. Women, she said, have the right to be told everything they need to know to make intelligent and rational decisions about their pregnancies. Such legislation, said Wattleton, is most problematic for the poor, who cannot block it due to the low voting rate of lower-income citizens. "[The poor] are at the mercy of the mechanisms of the bureaucracy," Wattleton said. "Penn students and other members of the middle class are privileged," Wattleton said later in the speech. "The poor can not easily obtain contraceptives. The poor are performing self-abortions that often cause death. If we don't care about the poor then we all will suffer." However, Wattleton said the proposed rule has only further empassioned Planned Parenthood. "Planned Parenthood has made it clear that they will not give in to this rule," Wattleton said. "It is immoral to withhold information from [patients] that will make them intelligent women." Wattleton said she is fearful that women will lose their reproductive rights and in the process return to a life of subservience. For Planned Parenthood, Wattleton said, the politics of abortion have also encroached upon the foreign policies of the United States. "The Vatican has asked that Planned Parenthood withdraw all Parenthood Programs from third-world countries," Wattleton said. This international restriction on abortion disgusts Wattleton because of its influence on American foreign affairs. "We are letting the Vatican influence the policies of our nation," Wattleton said. "The people of this country should be outraged by such developments." Wattleton said American citizens must now address these issues politically in the two opportunities they will receive soon -- in primary and general elections. When doing so, Wattleton said, American must stay focused on the larger picture, which she tried to paint by highlighting the affects of insufficient legislation for abortion rights. "Bush feels that the 1871 civil rights law that protected blacks from the KKK should not be used to help women from pro-life demonstraters as they proceed to abortion clinics," Wattleton said. Wattleton also said she was concerned about the appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. "We have an administration that put someone in the Supreme Court that said he has never 'read about, heard about, or talked about' the abortion issue," Wattleton said. On a more local level, Wattleton said she holds Pennsylvania responsible for restricting access to abortion since, she said, it is the origin of conservative legislation on abortion. "Gov. Casey has no place being this state's governor," Wattleton said. "It doesn't make sense that Casey feels he can structure my family. If I haven't structured my family in sixteen years, a law won't do it for me." To remedy this problem, Wattleton said Americans must change how they perceive the larger picture of abortion issues which she said will lead the debate in a more positive direction. "Wouldn't it be more productive to study why women become pregnant when they don't want to?" Wattleton said. However, Wattleton, in response to a question after the speech, said she would not advocate self-abortion training if Roe v. Wade was overturned. "No," Wattleton said. "If we support this, then it says we are giving away our rights and that we have no control to change the situation. This would not be democratic because it shows that the minority has control over the majority."
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