November 15, 2025
[[link removed]] [[link removed]]
#Fight4HER's Repro Rundown
Hello friend,
Do you know what happens when global health policy becomes more restrictive? Maternity wards close, babies are born in unsterile conditions, more unsafe abortions occur, and more women and girls die. This is exactly what’s happening in many parts of the world because of the Trump administration’s global health funding cuts.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has suffered from years of conflict, a health care manager in South Kivu says that family planning services “are almost non-existent for women who want them.”
In Ethiopia, the “freeze” on international assistance is reducing access to critical maternal health services — including medications and supplies, skilled birth attendants, and facilities for safe delivery — which increases the risk for maternal and infant mortality.
At the same time, T he New York T imes reported [[link removed]] on the possibility that 20 truckloads of medications, including contraceptives, have been rendered unusable because of improper storage in a Belgian warehouse. According to the NYT, this seems to be in addition to the $9.7 million worth of contraceptives in a different Belgian warehouse that the Trump administration has been trying to incinerate since August.
On top of all this cruel insanity, we continue to hear that the Trump administration will soon expand the Global Gag Rule to cover all US nonmilitary aid — including aid that goes to foreign governments, major multilateral organizations, and US-based NGOs — which will exacerbate the damage this administration has already done to reproductive health and rights around the world. It’s nothing short of the weaponization of foreign assistance to push a right-wing agenda on the developing world.
It is hard to comprehend the level of disregard for people’s lives that this administration holds. But despite sometimes feeling despair, we can’t stop fighting. We must hold Trump and his henchmen accountable and demand that our leaders protect rather than dismantle programs that save millions of lives around the world.
Stop the destruction of contraceptives [[link removed]]
The Rundown
Abortion
* Thumbs up to reproductive rights advocates and supporters who won big at the ballot box last week, a powerful reminder that when we vote, we protect our rights and defend our freedom. ( The Guardian [[link removed]] , 11/06/25)
* Access to abortion has continued in restrictive states since the fall of Roe v. Wade , thanks to telehealth enabling providers in states without bans to prescribe and mail abortion medication to patients in states with bans. Meanwhile, Republicans are trying to end telehealth abortion and reverse the FDA’s approval in 2000 of mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medication abortion. ( The New York Times [[link removed]] , 11/12/25)
Domestic Health Care
* Dr. Sharon Camp, 81, the so-called mother of the Plan B emergency contraceptive pill, passed away in late October. She was responsible for getting Plan B approved by the FDA in 1999 and then, a few years later, getting it approved for over-the-counter sales. Dr. Camp worked for decades at different reproductive rights organizations and knew on a personal level the importance of reproductive freedom — she herself had nearly died from an unsafe abortion at age 23. ( The New York Times [[link removed]] , 11/14/25)
* Republicans in Wisconsin have proposed a bill that would require people who use medication abortion to end a pregnancy or complete a miscarriage to collect their pregnancy tissue and bring it to their doctor as “medical waste.” This is a thinly veiled attempt to punish people having an abortion or miscarriage, under the guise of “environmental protection.” ( Abortion, Every Day [[link removed]] , 11/12/25)
International Reproductive Health
* As many international family planning funders announce budget cuts, some aid-recipient countries are increasing their national investments in order to protect decades of progress in reproductive health. Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced increases to their family planning budgets last week at the International Conference on Family Planning in Bogotá, Colombia, where our staff attended sessions and hosted an exhibit booth. ( The Guardian [[link removed]] , 11/12/25)
* Funding for international family planning has taken a huge hit this year with the US "freezing" international assistance and dissolving USAID. It is looking like the shortage will continue as Donald Trump's budget for 2026 calls for the elimination of family planning funding, and other historically generous donor countries — including the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden — are reducing their aid budgets as well. ( Devex [[link removed]] , 11/05/25)
Feeling fired up by the Repro Rundown? Take action now to prevent the Trump administration from destroying $10 million worth of contraceptives already purchased by US taxpayers.
Prevent the destruction of contraceptives today! [[link removed]]
[[link removed]] Lauren Salmiery
National Field Director
She/Her/Hers
Support the #Fight4HER [[link removed]]

If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please unsubscribe: [link removed] .
Population Connection Action Fund
2120 L Street NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20037
202-332-2200