Sorry for those not interested in politics, but this needs to be passed on.

Those protesting the Federal government's cancellation of 34 million dollars to educated third-world countries about contraception, abortion, and AIDS prevention have started a movement which I encourage all of you to support.

"The organizers are looking for "34 million Friends of UNFPA" to send $1 each to the United Nations (FPA) at 220 East 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10017."

That's $1. (As long as you're writing a check, you might as well make it $5, but the key is to get 34 million voting-eligible people to protest in order to send a message to the government.)

Friends of UNFPA
220 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017

Those of you inclined to writing and calling your representatives or the White House could write to point out that it isn't only children who would benefit from the cancelled programs but women in underdeveloped countries who already have as many or more children as they can feed and raise. So contraceptives improve the quality of life for poor children and their parents.

You could write to point out that the President sticking his Bible Belt head in the sand won't make HIV go away and that refusing to fund HIV education in third world countries is tantamount to passive genocide.

You could write to explain that a woman who has been raped should not be forced to carry the child of her rapist to term. And that banning legal abortion just means that more women will die as a result of unsafe, illegal abortions.

You could write and explain that Western tolerance of female genital mutilation is an international disgrace and that not funding programs to educate against the practice condemns untold thousands of women to undergo a dangerous, life-changing, and medically unwarranted amputation.

While you're writing, be sure and express your abhorrence of the Bushleaguer's desire to make W. David Hager chairman of the Food and Drug Administration's panel on women's health policy.

A man who understands or cares less about women's health would be hard to find. He openly believes that "headaches, PMS and eating disorders can be cured by reading Scripture."

From: Jesus and the FDA (Time)
Though his resume describes Hager as a University of Kentucky professor, a university official says Hager's appointment is part time and voluntary and involves working with interns at Lexington's Central Baptist Hospital, not the university itself.

Note that you can visit this California State University site for further information on how to act against Hager's appointment. (You can click to send an e-mail and there's even suggested content if you don't feel like writing your own.)