Global health did not come up explicitly in the final presidential debate, which focused on U.S. foreign policy. Both candidates, however, made reference to women’s issues, primarily voicing support for women’s empowerment in the Middle East.
A rare bipartisan effort underway in the Senate—to ratify a United Nations treaty on disability rights—has become the latest target of politicians who would like to undermine a woman’s ability to make personal health care decisions.
Horrifying reports of a woman forced to have an abortion draw attention yet again to the dangers of China’s one-child policy. All champions of human rights must openly condemn China’s one-child policy and the illegal practices of forced abortion and coerced birth control reported in some localities. The continued oppression of Chinese families through coercive reproductive policies must end.
Last week, the House Appropriations Committee proposed to cut funding for international family planning programs and impose harmful restrictions on women’s access to essential health care — including the global gag rule and prohibiting U.S. contributions to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
Opponents of birth control don’t just want to limit access in the U.S., they want to slash U.S. support for international family planning programs. It’s a perennial debate, and it’s about to start all over again
