Women's Health Care

I cannot independently verify the following statistics, but I CAN personally attest to the huge need that exists for women's health care in the poorest countries where HealthEd Connect works.  I will never forget an elderly, wizened, little lady in the DR Congo that came up to me many years ago with a baby in her arms.  I thought she was the baby's grandmother until she looked at me imploringly and said, "This is my 14th child and I'm worn out.  Can you do anything to help me?"    Unfortunately, there were no family planning facilities I could send her to.  Her plea has haunted me ever since.  I wasn't able to help her but she has certainly motivated me to do everything within my power to make family planning available for women I encounter today.  Like women everywhere, they desperately want babies....just not so many so close together.  Unfortunately, the decisions we make in the U.S. can have devastating impacts on women in the DR Congo and other needy places.

Shortly after taking office, the Trump administration reinstated the Global Gag Rule, designed to cut US funding to any organization that provides abortion services. While every Republican administration since Reagan has promulgated the policy (and every Democratic withdrawn it), Trump's expanded version is more disastrous for global health than any prior iteration. Not only does it cut funding to organizations for abortions, it slashes all US government funding - close to $9 billion - to organizations that offer a range of non-abortion related health services if they also provide, refer, or even just counsel about abortion. This expansion means essential health care for diseases such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and cervical cancer will be denied.  Printed in the Hesperian Society  online bulletin January 11, 2018: