The Georgia Green Party

Category: Party Platform

  • Ask Your Friends If Their Political Parties Support Israel’s Genocide in Palestine

    Without further research we cannot pinpoint the date when Green Party activists first started calling the Occupation’s response to the October 2023 Operation al-Aqsa Flood a genocide. But we know that the Georgia Green Party’s annual convention on May 18th, 2024 acknowledged with the addition of Plank 13 to the Foreign Policy Chapter of its platform that “the International Court of Justice (had found) that a ‘plausible genocide’ is being conducted by the state of Israel against the Palestinian people, particularly with respect to its actions in Gaza”.

    We point this out not for we-told-you-so points. As with so many of our policy warnings, we really wish we were wrong about this.

    Rather we seek to urge Green Party activists to challenge their friends still voting for the corporate parties. We must each ask how can they justify their support for these policies when they clearly have options. Even if they continue to pretend that Palestinian lives do not matter, they might choose to work with us at least for their own liberation from the oligarchs governing our own nation. Only a political strategy, independent of those oligarchs can deliver on such a promise.

    Its hard to image a human heart so inured to suffering to not recognize what our tax dollars are paying for right now in Gaza. Which leads one to the conclusion that they know, and either (1) they do not care; or (2) they cower in fear from what Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer calls the Israeli Lobby. Neither possesses the integrity required for position of trust among our elected leadership.

    We cannot resolve an issue we refuse to face.

  • U.N. Special Rapporteur Asks Questions About “Altruistic Surrogacy” in Greece

    The United Nations Human Rights Council appointed Reem Alsalem as Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences. On July 8, 2024, she publicized her communication to the government of Greece regarding her concerns about “altruistic surrogacy” in its jurisdiction.

    Ms. Alsalem wrote:

    the regulation of surrogacy in Greece appears to disproportionately focus on the protection and security of the commissioning parents, while lacking effective safeguards and due considerations to the rights of the surrogate mother, and the children born through surrogacy.

    The letter describes many ways in which the rights of surrogate mothers and the children born of these procedures are violated, and it is worth reading in full. Perhaps the most alarming questions revolve around the economic coercion practiced under the legal fiction of “altruistic surrogacy.”

    [T]he regulation of surrogacy in Greece also has gaps concerning the protection of women living in situations of economic vulnerability. Indeed, according to information received, poor or migrant women are selected to be surrogate mothers precisely because of their vulnerable situation. Hence, according to data received, more than 60 per cent of surrogate mothers are not citizens of Greece. A study noted that most of them are from Bulgaria, Poland, Georgia, Albania, and Romania. This was intensified by the regulatory change in 2014, which allows surrogate mothers to not be Greek citizens, or even have permanent residency, placing migrant women at greater risk.
    Additionally, I share the concern that, although according to Law 3089/2002 surrogacy should be carried out exclusively for “altruistic” purposes, there are allegations that surrogacy and egg “donation” are, in fact, carried out for financial reasons. It is possible to observe surrogate mothers who pretend to be the commissioner’s best friends (in accordance with the principle of altruism) but in reality, are usually younger non-Greeks than the commissioning parents or, in some situations, their foreign-born domestic workers.

    The Georgia Green Party Platform supports the Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights and endorses the Draft International Convention for the Abolition of Surrogacy to protect women locally and globally from the exploitative surrogacy industry. The party commits to “protect women in Georgia and globally from the predatory domestic and global surrogacy market and its reliance on the trafficking of impoverished women’s bodies.”

    In the discussions party members had prior to adopting this position, the question of “altruistic surrogacy” attracted focus. Evidence showing how jurisdictions which allowed surrogacy under this label had abuses like those Ms. Alsalem suspects are happening in Greece persuaded the party that abolition was the best policy.

    Join the Georgia Green Party and help it promote this important human rights issue.

  • Does Donating or Selling Eggs to the Surrogacy Industry Empower Women?

    Nordic Model Now!, “a secular, feminist, grassroots women’s group based in the UK that is campaigning for the abolition of prostitution and related practices (such as lap-dancing, pornography and surrogacy),” reports that the London Egg Bank is placing advertisements for women to donate and/or sell their embryos for the purpose of surrogacy.

    The Georgia Green Party supports the Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights and endorses in its platform the Draft International Convention for the Abolition of Surrogacy to protect women locally and globally from the exploitative surrogacy industry. The party commits to “protect women in Georgia and globally from the predatory domestic and global surrogacy market and its reliance on the trafficking of impoverished women’s bodies. We urge would-be parents who might have considered surrogacy to consider instead the meaningful contributions they might make as foster or adoptive parents, provided that the conflicting interests of all parties to these family formation practices are ethically and legally protected.”

    Neither egg donation nor gestational surrogacy is risk free. Commercial interests exploit the economic desperation of young women as a locus of production for an industry predicted to be worth $34 Billion by 2027. In contrast, our Platform advocates livable wages and financial support for the students they target with these ads.

  • Protecting Our Water: A Georgia Green Party Imperative

    Recent news exposing the contamination of Georgia’s water systems with “forever chemicals” is a wake-up call for us all. This issue hits close to home and resonates deeply with our Georgia Green Party platform.

    Here’s how:

    1. Honor the Rights of All to Clean Water: We believe in the fundamental right of every individual to clean air, water, soil, and food. The contamination of our water systems threatens this right and demands our immediate attention.
    2. Protect Our Water Resources: Clean, potable water is essential for the well-being of our communities. The contamination with PFAS chemicals underscores the urgency of protecting our precious water resources.
    3. Prevent Pollution: Rather than merely controlling pollution, we advocate for prevention strategies. It’s crucial to address the root causes of pollution and reduce toxic substances at their source.

    We cannot afford to ignore the urgent need for environmental protection measures and regulatory action. Together, let’s raise awareness, demand accountability, and work towards cleaner, safer water for all Georgians.

    Read the full article here.

    Let’s stand together for a greener, healthier Georgia!

  • Greening Georgia’s Future: The Georgia Green Party Platform

    Platform: a declaration of the principles on which a group of persons stands

    The Platform Committee of the Georgia Green Party invites the public to a monthly virtual examination of sections of its platform. Registration is required.

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  • Universal Basic Income: A Good Idea? Or a Right Wing Trojan Horse?

    Adam Proctor, host of the Dead Pundit Society podcast examines the real calculations behind the Silicon valley billionaires and libertarians pushing a Universal Basic Income. Turns out that some of them want to substitute a meager UBI for actual wage increases, and for programs which deliver food, child care, housing, medical care and other necessities.