Hi Friend,
On Friday, House Republicans passed — on a strict party line vote — an annual funding bill that is disastrous for international family planning efforts.
The bill limits international family planning funding to $461 million, a nearly 25 percent cut that would cause more than 8 million women and couples to lose access to the contraceptives they need. It also reinstates the Trump-era Global Gag Rule and bars funding to UNFPA. Finally, it reiterates rather than repeals the harmful and archaic Helms Amendment. This bill would endanger the lives of women and girls around the world and undermine progress toward stabilizing population.
Just before passing the bill, every Republican in the House voted against a motion offered by Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) to restore funding to family planning in the bill and to remove the provision that reinstates the Global Gag Rule and bars aid to UNFPA.
While the Senate is unlikely to approve, and President Biden has said he’d veto this bill, the fact that the House passed it with these funding cuts in place sends a loud and clear message as to what their priorities are when it comes to supporting international family planning.
The #Fight4HER campaign is working in communities across the United States to engage voters, elected officials, and candidates in this work. And with your support, we can make sure that we have a Congress we deserve: one that supports the right of everyone in the world to access the reproductive health care and contraception they want.
Thank you so much for your continued advocacy.
