Reproductve Rights Group Sues Pres. Lush Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Thursday June 07 12:27 AM EDT (via yahoo) Reproductive Rights Group Sues Bush By DEEPTI HAJELA NEW YORK (AP) - A reproductive rights organization sued President Bush Wednesday, challenging the constitutionality of the government's ban on aid for family planning groups that discuss or advocate abortion rights abroad. The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy's suit said the ban infringes on members' First Amendment rights by limiting their discussions about reproductive options. "As human rights advocates, we try to further reproductive rights," said Katherine Hall Martinez, a lawyer with the group and a plaintiff in the lawsuit. "The gag rule is preventing us from keeping our mission." The federal lawsuit also names Secretary of State Colin Powell and Andrew Natsios, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. A call to the White House for comment was not immediately returned Wednesday. In March, Bush signed a memorandum barring government money to international groups that use their own money to support abortion, either through performing the procedure, counseling on abortion as a family planning option or lobbying foreign governments on abortion policy. Martinez said the memo has limited the communication that center staffers can have with groups in other countries, curtailing their right to free speech. The center is a New York City-based nonprofit group that supports reproductive rights around the world. Part of its mission is to make abortion legal and accessible in developing countries. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytfem-06.09.01-08:10:12-4664