Senate Appropriations Committee to Vote on Bill that Overturns Destructive Global Health Policies on Contraceptives and HIV/AIDS; President Has Threatened a Veto

Senate Appropriations Committee to Vote on Bill that Overturns Destructive Global Health Policies on Contraceptives and HIV/AIDS; President Has Threatened a Veto

FY 2008 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill

What the Bill Does:

1. Expands access to contraceptives in poor, impoverished nations by providing a limited exemption from the Mexico City Policy (Global Gag Rule) solely for USAID-donated contraceptives;

2. Provides greater effectiveness and flexibility in the fight against HIV/AIDS by allowing the President to waive the restriction under PEPFAR that mandates at least one-third of U.S. HIV/AIDS prevention funding be limited to abstinence-until-marriage programs;

3. Modifies the "Kemp-Kasten" restriction that has been improperly used by President Bush to deny U.S. funding to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) for the past five years.

Why This Is Important:

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

"Today the Senate Appropriations Committee joined the House of Representatives in sending a clear and strong message around the world. We are tired of talking about prevention and the needs of impoverished women and children but not walking the walk. By voting to expand access to contraceptives, repealing rigid abstinence funding mandates, and hopefully restoring U.S. funding to UNFPA, some long overdue common sense has returned to U.S. development assistance. The Senate, under the tremendous leadership of Chairman Leahy, has told the world that we are ready to walk the walk.

The real winners today are the tens of millions of poor women overseas that lack access to basic reproductive health care that American women take for granted. The three provisions included in today's bill will save tens of thousands of lives and improve the quality of life for countless women and children. Contraceptives prevent abortion and HIV infection. Cutting off the flow of contraceptives to women and couples in impoverished countries makes no sense. The American people overwhelmingly support these programs - and they know that the real way to prevent the need for abortion is to expand access to contraceptives. It's really pretty simple.

Contraceptives Provision:

• A provision in the bill expands access to contraceptives in poor, impoverished nations by providing a limited exemption from the Mexico City Policy (Global Gag Rule) solely for USAID-donated contraceptives and condoms.

• It does not provide financial assistance of any kind to family planning organizations. It simply would allow organizations to get donations of contraceptives from USAID.

• The provision would not allow any assistance for abortion-related activities.

• Since the Gag Rule was reinstated in 2001, shipments of contraceptives from the U.S. government have been stopped in 20 developing countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Leading indigenous family planning providers in several other countries have also stopped receiving contraceptives from the U.S.

• Contraceptives help reduce abortion, HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections, and save the lives of mothers and infants by reducing high-risk and unintended pregnancies.

• Providing modern contraceptives to the 200 million women in the developing world who desire - but lack access to - this health care would avert 52 million unwanted pregnancies annually, preventing approximately 29 million abortions, 142,000 pregnancy-related deaths, and 505,000 children from losing their mothers.

Abstinence-Only Repeal:

• A provision in the bill provides greater effectiveness and flexibility in the fight against HIV/AIDS by allowing the President to waive the restriction under PEPFAR that mandates at least one-third of HIV prevention funding be limited to abstinence-until-marriage programs.

• This will allow U.S.-funded HIV/AIDS programs to better respond to the differing features of the epidemic in each country.

• In 2006, there were 4.3 million new HIV infections. According to the WHO, unprotected heterosexual sex is the leading cause of HIV infections worldwide, representing 80 percent of new infections in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Marriage is not a protective factor from contracting HIV/AIDS. Over the next ten years, more than 100 million girls in developing countries will be married before their 18th birthdays - mostly to older men and against their will. These girls have significantly higher rates of HIV infection than their sexually active, unmarried peers.

• According to two congressionally-mandated reviews from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) - and countless experts in the field - the abstinence restriction is detrimental to HIV/AIDS prevention efforts and should be eliminated.

UNFPA Funding:

• A provision in the bill modifies the "Kemp-Kasten" restriction that has been improperly used by President Bush to deny U.S. funding to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) for the past five years.

• UNFPA works in over 140 countries, providing life-saving maternal and child health care, HIV/AIDS prevention services, and emergency care for pregnant women in conflict and disaster situations.

• U.S. support for UNFPA is an essential part of American efforts to reduce maternal and child mo

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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.