Sexual Rights, the foundation for women's self-determination over their bodies and lives, are critical to all women's ability to achieve their full potential. CAKE's mission is to promote female sexual pleasure and redefine the current boundaries about female sexuality. To achieve this mission, the CAKE community needs to be informed and outspoken in the political arena.

GEORGE W. BUSH IS WEAK ON WOMEN!

When is comes to women, George Bush has been WEAK! This upcoming presidential election will be decided by women who choose the 'man' who represents the best of our interests - especially when it comes to our sexual culture and rights.

Young women born after 1973 have always had the right to choose. That right is founded on the constitutional right of personal privacy. But George Bush has spent the last three and a half years eroding the very protections that are vital to our health and lives.

Here is a small first taste of an ongoing examination of how George Bush has attacked women's rights.

Weak On Reproductive Rights

In 2003, in an editorial titled "The War Against Women" the New York Times said of Bush, "The lengthening string of anti-choice executive orders, regulations, legal briefs, legislative maneuvers, and key appointments emanating from his administration suggests that undermining the reproductive freedom essential to women's health, privacy and equality is a major preoccupation of his administration - second only, perhaps, to the war on terrorism."Underfunded UNFPA

George Bush withheld $34 million in funds to the United Nations Population Fund in 2002. This came at the expense of women around the world who rely on UNFPA for services that reduce unintended pregnancies, abortions, and maternal deaths; promote safe pregnancy and delivery; and assist families with disease prevention, nutrition, and emergency aid. According to the UNFPA, the U.S.’s $34 million contribution would have been enough to prevent up to 800,000 induced abortions.

Reinstated Global Gag Rule
On his first day in office, Bush reinstated the Global Gag Rule, eliminating U.S. funding to international family planning organizations that offer abortion counseling or services with their own private funds. Especially hurt are smaller towns and villages with fewer choices for care.

Appointed Destructive Officials
President Bush appointed W. David Hager to the Food and Drug Administration's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. Hager has a history of refusing to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women and has recommended scripture reading as a treatment for premenstrual syndrome. In the past, Hager worked with the Christian Medical Association on a petition asking the FDA to override the ruling that approved RU-486, and blocked the passage of over the counter emergency contraception.

Nominated Right-Wing Judges
The Bush Administration is attempting to pack the federal bench with right wing ideologues. Not a single President Bush Federal Appeals Court nominee is on record supporting Roe v. Wade. One of Bush's nominees, Alabama Attorney General William Pryor said in 1997 that Roe v. Wade was "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history."

Compared Abortion to Terrorism
Bush declared January 20, 2002, just two days before the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, "National Sanctity of Human Life Day" The proclamation stated: "On September 11, we saw clearly that evil exists in this world, and that it does not value life ... Now we are engaged in a fight against evil and tyranny to preserve and protect life."

Taken together this is an attack on women's sexual and reproductive autonomy. We cannot afford four more years of this assault on women's lives!