For women in the US, Mother’s Day is often about getting that perfect Hallmark card or being treated to breakfast in bed. But for many women in the developing world, celebrating motherhood through such a simple holiday is not even a possibility.
Tolerance, apparently, is Enemy Number 1, especially in places where the Catholic Church’s sphere of social and political influence is intact, but waning.
At the recent Commission on Population and Development, for the first time in eight years, the US was front and center advocating an increased global commitment to reproductive health and rights.
At the moment the Obama administration’s decision to seek a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council grabbed headlines, the U.S. quietly took the reins on the most important human rights issue for humanity’s future: sexual and reproductive rights.
Colorado’s Senate Bill 225 reminds us that there is still a great deal of hostility toward birth control in this country, and one of the most glaring examples of this hostility is in the
New members of Office of Faith-Based Initiatives announced; breakthrough for male contraceptive; anti-choice perspective on Commission on Population and Development; China’s restrictive family planning policies result in a black market in boys; Kristof on family planning.
One way the US — by way of the White House — can retake a leadership role in promoting international family planning and women’s health is to build a small army of Social Change Volunteers who would be a modern version of Peace Corp volunteers.
We need to prove our commitment to international women’s health by paying our fair share. Rhetoric means nothing if we don’t back it up with resources.
Five former USAID population directors together endorse forceful reasons why Congress should more than double spending on international family planning in the coming years.
If I had a billion dollars, I know exactly how I would spend it: improving women’s access to family planning in the world’s poorest communities.
