A couple of weeks ago, we were happy to announce that President Obama had repealed the Global Gag Rule, a policy that had jeopardized the lives and health of women all across the globe. MADRE Communications Director Yifat Susskind wrote this piece in Foreign Policy in Focus, which catalogues the harm caused by such systematic attacks on women's health and looks ahead to the next steps that will be necessary to safeguard women's reproductive rights. An excerpt is below:
According to the UN Population Fund, family planning "has the potential to reduce poverty and hunger, and avert 25-35% of all maternal deaths and nearly 10% of all childhood deaths. It would also contribute substantially to women's empowerment, achievement of universal primary schooling and long-term environmental sustainability."
That's because women's ability to control their fertility is a precondition for exercising autonomy in other realms of life. When women can decide when to have children, they generally choose to have smaller families. They participate more productively in their countries' economies and political processes, are healthier, and raise and educate healthier children. These are the foundations of a more peaceful and prosperous world.
Posted by: |