In her campaign speech Kerry said her brother John would reinstitute U.S. funding for the U.N. Population Fund, which President Bush has defunded over UNFPA support for coercive abortions in China. Kerry also said her brother would ensure U.S. ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Elimination Against All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, something opposed by President Bush. She also pledged that her brother would appoint only pro-abortion judges to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Her comments caused not a few jaws to drop at the State Department. One high-ranking official told the Friday Fax, "Even if it's legal, how can she claim to effectively represent Bush's policies at the U.N., if she is bashing those same policies in a speech in Boston."

It appears that Kerry violated no federal law in making campaign appearances for her brother. At one time, career civil servants like Kerry were forbidden to make campaign appearances, though that has now changed. What is not yet clear is whether Kerry violated any internal State Department guidelines.

Kerry first came to the State Department as a political appointee under the Clinton administration and was charged with maintaining contacts with U.N. nongovernmental organizations. In that capacity with the Clinton administration, Kerry is best known for booking the U.N. press office on behalf of "Catholics" for a Free Choice when it announced its campaign to throw the Catholic Church out of the U.N. Kerry's job was made permanent in the early days of the Bush administration.

'Secret Weapon'

Monday's speech was not the first time that Kerry has actively campaigned for her brother. She introduced the singer Carole King at a John Kerry fund-raising concert and has spoken at a number of his campaign events. In fact, she was introduced yesterday as a "secret weapon" to solidify the radical feminist base for her brother.

According to the Washington Times: "In introducing Ms. Kerry, Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal said she had heard of misgivings about the Kerry-Edwards ticket. Women are wondering whether they are 'really with us,' she said. There is no question that Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards 'have a huge track record with us,' Ms. Smeal said. 'And he has a secret weapon,' she said, referring to Peggy Kerry and her many years of work with feminist causes."

Kerry spoke yesterday at an event called "She Party," which was held at the Harvard Club and was intended as a pun upon the Boston Tea Party. According to a NOW invitation, the party was part of its "grassroots revolution against the Tyranny of King George."

Friday Fax. Copyright 2004 C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute). Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.

Editor's note: