Members of Congress head back to their districts this month with the threat of a Presidential veto of the 2008 Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill casting a dark cloud over the good work they've done. Why a possible veto? It's all because of a provision that exempts U.S.-donated contraceptives and condoms from the restrictions of the Global Gag Rule. Who would have thought that helping life-saving contraceptives and condoms get to the people who want and need them most would be reason to veto $34.5 billion in foreign assistance?

With further Senate action on the appropriations bill exempting contraceptives from the Global Gag Rule not likely until September, this is the perfect moment to highlight the importance of increasing access to contraceptives, which is crucial to global development and the fight against poverty.

“When you are married, you do not have the right to say ‘no'” -- Skytt Nzambu These are the words of Skytt Nzambu, a Kenyan woman who was infected with HIV by her unfaithful husband. Tragically, Skytt is only one of an increasing number of HIV infections that are occurring within married couples, according to information reported at last week's HIV/AIDS Implementers' Meeting in Rwanda.

Population Action International celebrated an important victory for women and their families last week, as Congress passed a Foreign Operations Appropriations bill (H.R. 2764) that contained language correcting some of the most egregious aspects of U.S. international sexual and reproductive health policy.

Family planning and reproductive health supporters are on the verge of a very important show-down in the House of Representatives on the issues of access to contraceptives and abstinence-only HIV/AIDS prevention restrictions

With its Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs' approval of the fiscal year 2008 appropriations bill, the House of Representatives took a significant step toward grounding U.S. aid for family planning and HIV/AIDS relief in sound evidence.

PAI was thrilled to hear President Bush announce last week that he is requesting an additional 30 billion in funding for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) over the next five years. This historic effort has enormous potential to save millions of lives.

As the HIV/AIDS epidemic increasingly affects women it is more important than ever that HIV/AIDS programs coordinate with and complement family planning and reproductive health programs. The question is: How can this be done most effectively?

Experts, activists and government officials agree on one thing: Meeting the needs of women is paramount to reducing worldwide HIV infections. Unfortunately, the U.S. response to achieving this goal has been at cross purposes. Rather than playing a starring role in reducing HIV infection in women and children, family planning programs are suffering from diminishing or a total lack of U.S. funding in almost all of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief's (PEPFAR) fifteen “focus countries.” In effect, while the U.S. response to HIV/AIDS grows, its support for the very health programs where women have sought care for over four decades has lost considerable ground.

Male circumcision, which has been shown to reduce a man's risk of contracting HIV by up to 65%, should be made available in countries highly affected by AIDS, according to the WHO and UNAIDS. Used in addition to other proven HIV prevention methods – especially those focused on protecting women – circumcision is proving to be another effective weapon to fight the spread of HIV; the latest tool in a growing arsenal of prevention methods that will face limited prevention resources due to the large abstinence-until-marriage spending requirement in PEPFAR. This earmark should be repealed to give countries that have the most to gain by promoting circumcision adequate resources with which to support this effort.