U.S. politics harm women by tying health workers' hands, even in countries where abortion care is legal.

November 14, 2024
By Christine Mungai, Harvard Public Health

In Nairobi, Kenya, Cate Nyambura is awaiting the outcome of the U.S. presidential election as if it could change her life—which it might. Nyambura is the director of programs at ATHENA Network, a global feminist collective that works primarily on reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS, and gender-based violence. “We hold our breath when the U.S. is having elections,” Nyambura says.

Tuesday’s vote will have an enormous effect on how—and whether—Nyambura and countless other health workers and reproductive rights activists around the world can do their jobs. Thanks to a longstanding rule about abortion that shifts each time the White House changes political parties, every U.S. presidential election pits the American mood against other countries’ sovereignty—and the health of their women and girls.

Continued: https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/how-the-u-s-election-has-an-outsized-effect-on-global-reproductive-health/