The US denies UN agency funding to provide care to pregnant women around the world

Sunday 11 May 2025

The Trump administration continues to withdraw funding to American and international organisations that pursue policies on sexuality, diversity, and minority rights that contradict its isolationist and conservative agenda.

Since February, the US has cut $377 million worth of funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN reproductive and sexual health agency. On Thursday, the US announced that it intended to deny future funding to UNFPA by triggering the so-called Kemp-Kasten Amendment from 1985.

Continued: https://www.brusselstimes.com/health-news/1573960/the-us-denies-un-agency-funding-to-provide-care-to-pregnant-women-around-the-world

11.05.2025

News

funding cuts for abortion research

Kemp-Kasten amendment

Laws and ethics must work together to achieve gender equality

Editorial, By Surjit Singh Flora, statetimes_editor
Mar 23, 2025

Female feticide and sex-selective abortion are major issues globally, worsened by medical advancements like ultrasonography and amniocentesis that allow parents to know the fetus’s sex early in pregnancy.

… A 2022 report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) highlighted India, China, Azerbaijan, and Vietnam as the countries with the most unfavourable sex ratios. In patriarchal societies, the preference for male children, combined with smaller family sizes and sex-determination technologies, has led to a notable demographic imbalance. This imbalance has worsened issues like the increasing trafficking of women, forced marriages, and overall social instability.

Continued: https://statetimes.in/laws-and-ethics-must-work-together-to-achieve-gender-equality/

23.03.2025

Editorial

PCPNDT Act

sex ratio imbalance

sex selection abortion

sex-selective abortion

Surjit Singh Flora

UNFPA

United Nations Population Fund

Weaponizing Aid: How U.S. Policies Undermine Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Crises

U.S. restrictions on foreign aid like the global gag rule are endangering women and girls by cutting off access to essential reproductive healthcare in humanitarian crises.

2/18/2025
by Ira Memaj

Shortly after taking office, the Trump administration issued a cascade of executive orders—among them, the reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, commonly referred to as the global gag rule (GGR). The GGR restricts U.S. funding for international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that provide, refer for, lobby or counsel on abortion care. While much has been covered about the GGR’s adverse effects on global health and NGOs, its impact on vulnerable populations in humanitarian settings, particularly refugee women and girls, has received less attention.

In 2024, a record 122.6 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced due to climate change, political unrest, persecution and armed conflict. More than 90 million women and girls are expected to require humanitarian aid, including sexual and reproductive health services, such as perinatal and abortion care, gender-based violence (GBV) support, and STI screening and treatment.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2025/02/18/us-global-gag-rule-refugee-women-healthcare-crisis-trump/

The Faces of U.S. Pronatalism And the War on Women’s Rights – Part One

22 January 2025

President Trump has taken office, and some of his initial executive orders closely reflect Project 2025, an authoritarian agenda that includes severe rollbacks on women’s reproductive rights. Trump’s close ties to Elon Musk and other pronatalist figures are also a cause for great concern. Here we explore the prominent figures of U.S. pronatalism and how Project 2025 represents a war on women’s rights.

The first Trump administration introduced a wave of policies that restricted reproductive rights and access to healthcare both domestically in the U.S. and worldwide. The Biden administration reversed a lot of those policies and helped to repair the U.S.’s reputation as one of the largest funders of sexual and reproductive healthcare worldwide.

Continued: https://populationmatters.org/news/2025/01/the-faces-of-u-s-pronatalism-and-the-war-on-womens-rights-part-one/

‘Grave and Serious Moment’ for Reproductive Rights

Dr Anu Kumar, CEO of the global reproductive justice organisation Ipas, outlines the impact of a global clampdown on abortion

27/11/2024
Kerry Cullinan

“Unsafe abortion remains a leading cause of maternal mortality, and it is entirely preventable,” says Dr Anu Kumar, CEO of Ipas, an international reproductive justice organisation. “So there is something we can do about it. We know what to do and we know how to do it. We just need to do it.”

But Kumar concedes that the election of Donald Trump as United States (US) President has ushered in a “pretty grave and serious moment”.

Continued: https://healthpolicy-watch.news/grave-and-serious-moment-for-reproductive-rights/

Kenya – How community dialogue is increasing demand for family planning products

Thursday, September 26, 2024
By Angeline Ochieng

It’s a hot afternoon and the fields of Bugar in Elgeyo Marakwet, usually abuzz with activity as farmers prepare for the approaching maize harvesting season, are quiet.

Instead of tending to their crops, a group of 30 residents, men and women, have gathered at Bugar market. They are listening to Alice Kibet, a Community Health Promoter (CHP) from Kapsaisi village in Keiyo North. Her voice is firm as the attentive audience hangs onto her words. Today, the market is serving as a classroom.

Continued: https://nation.africa/kenya/health/how-community-dialogue-is-increasing-demand-for-family-planning-products-4776324#google_vignette

26.09.2024

Commentary

Alice Kebit

Community Health Promoter

Everlyne Kangongo

Jonathan Tanui

Kenya Demographic Health Survey

UNFPA

World Contraception Day

Africa

Kenya

Contraception

The ‘Dobbs’ Decision on Abortion Is Hurting People the World Over | Opinion

Aug 09, 2024
By Grace Meng, Barbara Lee, and Diana DeGette

Two years ago, the Supreme Court's devastating Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade and rolled back reproductive rights for millions of people across the United States. Anti-abortion rights activists in other countries were paying attention. The harmful impact of Dobbs isn't just national—it's global.

In Nigeria, Dobbs was used to argue against the Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indications Guidelines in Lagos State. In Kenya, activists cited the decision to undermine a law affirming abortion as a fundamental human right under the Kenyan constitution. In Uganda, a court cited the Dobbs decision in a ruling that upheld a law effectively criminalizing LGBTQ+ life.

Continued: https://www.newsweek.com/dobbs-decision-abortion-hurting-people-world-over-opinion-1937070

District hospitals struggle with budget cuts for family planning programmes

Experts warn funding shortfall could trigger a rise in unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and maternal and child deaths.

Arjun Poudel
July 23, 2024

District hospitals across the country lack the budget to provide family planning programmes, as the government has not allocated any funds to continue them for the current fiscal year.

Officials at the Ministry of Health and Population said they have already alerted relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, about the budget cut, warning of serious repercussions including a rise in unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, higher maternal and child mortality rates, among others.

Continued: https://kathmandupost.com/health/2024/07/23/district-hospitals-struggle-with-budget-cuts-for-family-planning-programmes

23.07.2024

News

Dr Prakash Dev Panta

family planning programmes

Sarmila Dahal

UNFPA

United Nations Population Fund

Upsurge in family planning use globally amid decline in funding

May 13, 2024
Lungelo Ndhlovu

The population of women of reproductive age has increased by 20 percent globally since 2012 yet donor government funding for family planning programmes is nosediving, a new global report has revealed.

New figures released by FP2030 in its annual measurement report 2023, shows that the number of women using modern contraception has grown by 92 million since 2012 against dwindling resources to meet the growing demand.

Continued: https://www.chronicle.co.zw/upsurge-in-family-planning-use-globally-amid-decline-in-funding/

13.05.2024

Commentary

Dr Samukeliso Dube

family planning programs

Guttmacher Institute

Lungelo Ndhlovu

UNFPA

United Nations Population Fund

Ashley Judd speaks out on the right of women to control their bodies and be free from male violence

by Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press
April 29, 2024

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Actor Ashley Judd, whose allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein helped spark the #MeToo movement, spoke out Monday on the rights of women and girls to control their own bodies and be free from male violence.

A goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Population Fund, she addressed the U.N. General Assembly’s commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the landmark document adopted by 179 countries at its 1994 conference in Cairo, which for the first time recognized that women have the right to control their reproductive and sexual health – and to choose if and when to become pregnant.

Continued: https://toronto.citynews.ca/2024/04/29/ashley-judd-speaks-out-on-the-right-of-women-to-control-their-bodies-and-be-free-from-male-violence/