This afternoon the House Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up bill to remove ideology-based restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance for family planning and HIV/AIDS

House Takes First Steps to Ensuring that U.S. Aid for Family Planning and HIV/AIDS is Evidence-Based

FY 2008 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations

What the Bill Does:

1. Exempts overseas NGO family planning providers from the restrictions of the Mexico City Policy (Global Gag Rule) that cut off USAID-donated contraceptives and condoms.

2. Repeals the abstinence-only earmark under PEPFAR that requires at least one-third of U.S. HIV/AIDS prevention funding be limited to abstinence-until-marriage programs.

Why This is Important:

Statement from Terri Bartlett, Vice President for Public Policy at Population Action International:

"Today's action by the House Appropriations Subcommittee is a much needed dose of common sense when it comes to U.S. assistance on family planning and HIV/AIDS. The evidence is overwhelming that one-size-fits-all abstinence programs don't protect women and girls from HIV and that contraceptives are vital to saving mothers' lives and reducing abortion. But for several years, U.S. policies have flown in the face of these realities and of what we know works.

"Thanks to the tremendous leadership and dedication of Subcommittee Chair Nita Lowey, the two provisions included in today's bill will save tens of thousands of lives and improve the quality of life for countless more women and children.

"Exempting contraceptives from the Global Gag Rule is something that Members of Congress from both sides of the abortion debate can and should agree on. Contraceptives prevent abortion, plain and simple. We may not agree on the right to choose, but we can all agree on the right to contraceptives. Cutting off the flow of contraceptives to women and couples in impoverished countries makes no sense at all."

Why The Contraceptives Provision is Needed:

Demand for contraceptives and condoms in developing nations has never been higher - due to population growth, rising popularity and use of family planning services, and increasing prevalence of HIV infection. Unfortunately, funding for contraceptives and family planning programs -- from donors governments like the U.S. and from developing countries themselves -- has not kept up.

When adjusted for inflation, current (FY 2007) U.S. funding for FP/RH programs is 41% less than the FY 1995 level. At the same time these steep funding reductions have taken place, the # of women of reproductive age (15-49) in the developing world alone has increased by approx. 275 million women.

As PAI has documented in detail in recent years through extensive research in the field, the shortfall in contraceptive supplies is growing and U.S. restrictions under the Global Gag Rule are greatly exacerbating the problem. [see: http://www.globalgagrule.org/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1z1rdnaPVA ]

Since the Global Gag Rule was reinstated by President Bush in 2001, shipments of U.S.-donated contraceptives have been stopped to 20 developing countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Even in countries that still receive contraceptives and condoms from the U.S, leading indigenous family planning providers -- often those with the most extensive distribution networks -- stopped receiving contraceptives from the U.S. This has further exacerbated supply shortages, particularly in populous rural areas.

Access to contraceptives is something that most American women take for granted. Women in the developing world do not. More than 200 million women in the developing world wish to delay or end childbearing but don't have access to modern contraceptives.

More than one-third of married couples in countries such as Ethiopia, Haiti, Pakistan, and Uganda lack desired access to modern contraceptives. And demand is growing at a rapid pace: in countries such as Uganda, Niger, Afghanistan, and the Palestinian Territories the number of women of reproductive age is doubling every 20-25 years.

Increasing U.S. donations of contraceptives and condoms is essential in order to reduce unintended pregnancies, abortion, and sexually transmitted infections such as HIV/AIDS. Filling the unmet need for contraceptives would avert 52 million unwanted pregnancies each year. This would prevent an estimated 29 million abortions, 142,000 pregnancy-related deaths, and 505,000 children from losing their mothers.

The stand-alone version of this contraceptives provision (H.R. 2367) is sponsored by a diverse group of Members of Congress on both sides of the abortion issue, including anti-abortion Members such as Jim Oberstar (D-MN), Tim Ryan (D-OH), and Mike Michaud (D-ME), and pro-choice Members such as Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Betty McCollum (D-MN), and Chris Shays (R-CT).

Why Repealing the Abstinence-Only Mandate is Needed:

Two congressionally mandated studies on the effectiveness of PEPFAR - from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the National Institute of Medicine (IOM) - recently concluded that the abstinence-until-marriage earmark is undermining U.S. efforts to prevent new HIV infections. For example, PEPFAR's rigid abstinence funding mandate hinders the development of comprehensive and integrated HIV prevention programs that address the unique vulnerabilities of married women and the overall gender disparities in the rate of HIV infection.

More lives can be saved if HIV/AIDS treatment programs are combined with comprehensive, evidence-based prevention policies and work in concert with family planning and reproductive health programs. Without strong support for maternal and child health programs, including family planning services, women and girls will remain unwilling victims to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. [See: Abstaining from Reality: U.S. Restrictions on HIV Prevention: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpabeOOJeoQ]

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Population Action International works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning, and reproductive health policies and programs.