US Leadership [sic]
July 25, 2005 12:21 PM   Subscribe

"We must remain faithful to the established principles of the scientific method and not allow theological beliefs and dogma to interfere," Pedro Chequer, director of the Brazilian government's AIDS program, said in an interview in Brasilía. [NYT link] Earlier this year Brazil was the first country to reject US aid for fighting HIV/Aids because of the provision in The Leadership Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003 which would have required Brazil, where prositution is regulated and legal, to condemn commercial sex work. Along with the global gag rule, which prevents NGOs receiving US aid from discussing abortion with their clients (or even from advocating for safe and legal abortions with their own governments), US policies based on theological imperatives are endangering women worldwide. "Using a conservative estimate, U.S. assistance could have helped prevent 10 percent of the over 2 million deaths in developing countries from unsafe abortion over the past 30 years." Also: The Global Gag Rule Impact Project.
posted by OmieWise (11 comments total)
 
He who pays the piper calls the tune. That's why one should oppose school vouchers, 'cause ultimatlely it would lead to government controlling most all the schools.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 12:26 PM on July 25, 2005


"Ultimately." Damn.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 12:26 PM on July 25, 2005


Brazil figured out that legalizing prostitution removed the most corrupting profit motives and reduced peripheral crime and social problems that surrounded it. Didn't WE learn this already? As in: Prohibition - be it sex or drugs - does not work.
posted by tkchrist at 1:54 PM on July 25, 2005


Does the legalization of prositution make Brazil a nicer place than it otherwise would be? Doesn't it still have corrupting profit motives and peripheral crime and social problems?

Also: Government already controls most all the [public] schools.
posted by sandking at 2:48 PM on July 25, 2005


but this is america, tkchrist--we care less about what does or doesn't actually work than we care about what should or shouldn't be considered "right," according to the various magical writings we like to put our faith in (like the king james bible or the u.s. constitution)--mystical texts written by magical beings who, in a fortunate exception to the general rule of universal human fallibility, weren't like us, but were somehow endowed with the perfect wisdom of god himself.

unfortunately, prohibition wasn't motivated by a clear-headed analysis of costs to benefits, or even any particularly sophisticated ethical system--it was just the usual case of "moral virtue" run amok and represented passion-based policy-making at its worst. would be nice if we could learn from our mistakes tho, instead of just being defensive, wouldn't it?
posted by all-seeing eye dog at 3:00 PM on July 25, 2005


Everybody looking frantically for sleeper-cells in all the wrong places...and no wonder they see none. They can't see one as big as the current administration, imagine one made of 3-4 desperados.
posted by elpapacito at 5:37 PM on July 25, 2005


i say good for brazil, on principle alone. we need more of that in this world of ours.
posted by brandz at 8:44 PM on July 25, 2005


"Didn't WE learn this already? As in: Prohibition - be it sex or drugs - does not work."

This reminds me of a quote:
"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."
--Douglas Adams

Also, I ask the assembled to note that the thread about correct tipping have accumulated more than 25 times as many responses as this thread about a life-and-death issue.
posted by spazzm at 5:32 AM on July 26, 2005


I'm all for what I see happening in Brazil. Many of their initiatives seem a bold, if unpopular in the US, approach to development.
posted by infowar at 6:22 AM on July 26, 2005


sandking writes "Does the legalization of prositution make Brazil a nicer place than it otherwise would be? Doesn't it still have corrupting profit motives and peripheral crime and social problems?"

I'm not sure what your point is. From a public health standpoint it makes a whole hell of a lot more sense to regulate prostitution and target prostitutes for education and specific help with staying safe than it does to moralize about it and pretend that the problem does not exist. The law in question and the refusal to accept the US AID money have nothing to do with corruption. In fact, one could argue that if corruption were an issue Brazil would take the money. But really, I have no idea what you're talking about.
posted by OmieWise at 8:25 AM on July 26, 2005


A link to a global map of abortion rights.
posted by OmieWise at 11:40 AM on July 26, 2005


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