24 October 2005
Mrs. Laura Bush,
The White House,
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington DC 20500,
USA
Dear Mrs. Bush,
I attended the International Women's Forum in Washington last week and spoke at a Capitol Hill Round Table. The title of our discussion was "The Risk of Politics as usual in a Changing World".
I enclose a copy of the short speech I made. In it you will see that I praised you for your intervention recently to ensure that America's contribution to UNESCO remained at a significant level. Also, I encouraged women attending the meeting to ask President Bush to restore funding to UNFPA as a matter of urgency. Each year Congress votes between 30 to 40 million dollars to UNFPA but the President has vetoed the dispersal of the money for the last four years. This has had a devastating effect on poor women in developing countries who are left without supplies of contraceptives such as injectables or condoms.
Those who put abroad the notion that UNFPA promoted abortion in China were quite wrong. As I said in my speech, Christine McCafferty, a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, lead a group of sceptical MPs to China and could find no evidence this was true - she even found an Irish nun who had been there for 40 years who said it was an untrue tale. Public representatives from the United States of America have confirmed this.
May I ask you with great sincerity to urge your husband to change his direction on the funds? Women who are already malnourished and worn out with childbearing are those who are most affected and this, I am sure, he would not want.
With best wishes.
Yours sincerely,
Senator Mary Henry, MD
Reply from the office of Laura Bush
The White House
Washington
January 20, 2006
Senator Mary Henry M.D.
Leinster House
Dublin 2
Ireland
Dear Senator Henry:
On behalf of Mrs. Bush, I would like to thank you for your letter and the copy of your speech to the Capitol Hill Roundtable. She values your perspective and is glad you took the time to write and share your concerns about the funding for UNFPA
At her request, we have forwarded your correspondence to President Bush's office. Mrs. Bush sends her gratitude and best wishes.
Sincerely,
Misty C. Marshall
Director of Correspondence
Office of Laura Bush
Reply from the office of President George Bush
The White House
Washington
January 25, 2006
Senator Mary Henry, M.D.
Seanad Eireann
Leinster House
Kildare Street
Dublin 2
Ireland
Dear Senator Henry:
Thank you for your letter to President Bush, forwarded by First Lady Laura Bush. The President appreciates learning about your support of women in developing countries and the United Nations Population Fund.
America is guided by the conviction of our founding belief in the inherent dignity of every life. The president believes strongly in the goals of the United Nations Charter to advance peace, liberty and human rights, and values its potential as a source for building a more hopeful world where human rights - and women's rights - are advanced and protected.
On behalf of President Bush, thank you again for writing. Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Marguerite A. Murer
Special Assistant to the President
And Director of Presidential Correspondence
