February 25, 2009

The House of Representatives today passed legislation that funds programs in 2009. The measure includes funding for humanitarian assistance and international health programs that support HIV/AIDS relief, maternal health, and family planning. The Senate now needs to vote.

Click here to find your Senator and his or her contact information, and join activists across the country in asking Congress to stand strong for key investments, including: 

An increase for international family planning programs. Two hundred million women in the developing world do not have access to the contraceptives they need to choose if and when to have a child.  With increased funding, including funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United States can help meet this need and provide comprehensive reproductive health care that would allow women to safely carry a pregnancy and give birth, and prevent and treat sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. Tell your Senator that funding family planning programs, especially funding for UNFPA, is crucial to ensuring the health and rights of women everywhere.

An increase in funding for maternal and child health. More than half a million women die from preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth each year, almost all of them in poor countries. Adequate funding for maternal and child health is long overdue to end the continuing and unnecessary death and suffering of women - and consequent toll on their families and communities.

To learn more about the steps the United States can take to protect women's and girls' health and rights worldwide, click here.

To learn more about current U.S. legislation and advocacy opportunities, click here.  

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