The United States again defunded international family planning efforts, withdrawing its $32.5 million funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an agency that serves families in more than 150 countries. The State Department said the agency supports or participates in a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization in China.
The UNFPA responded: “This decision is based on the erroneous claim that UNFPA “supports, or participates in the management of, a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization” in China. UNFPA refutes this claim, as all of its work promotes the human rights of individuals and couples to make their own decisions, free of coercion or discrimination.”
Others said the decision would have “devastating consequences”, would be a “threat to millions of lives”, and would leave “major gaps” in reproductive healthcare.
Global child mortality rates are dropping but the gap between the lowest and highest countries is rising. Deaths fell from 14.2m in 1990 to 7.3m in 2015 with poorer nations accounting for almost 75%.
Two aspects of new communications technology: In Botswana, a report bemoans a rise in illegal abortion caused by the availability of illegal “drugs and appliances” on social media, while Rwanda lauds promoting family planning using mobile phone apps.
Lancet launched a new journal focused on Planetary Health, which sees “human beings as a powerful and growing force behind the environmental change that we are witnessing today. Alterations to climate, water, land and ecosystems are challenging all life on our planet, with serious implications for human health.”
Complete News References
General
WHO trains health workers on new Family Planning guidelines, WHO, 7 Apr 2017
“Devastating Consequences” for Women, Girls as U.S. Defunds UN Agency, InterPress News Agency, 6 Apr 2017
Coding for Abortion Access, New Yorker, 5 Apr 2017
More community workers needed for the “last mile” on healthcare – doctor, Thomson Reuters Foundation, 5 Apr 2017
UNFPA Responds to U.S. Decision to Withhold Funding, UNFPA, 4 Apr 2017
US withdraws funding for United Nations Population Fund, BBC, 4 Apr 2017
HIV, family planning groups grapple with new WHO guidance on popular contraceptive, Devex, 4 Apr 2017
Nations unies – Droits sexuels et reproductifs – Participation de Jean-Marie Le Guen à la commission sur la population et le développement, France Diplomatie, 3 Apr 2017
HBO’s ‘Abortion: Stories Women Tell’ Shows What Comes Next for Many Different Women, Bustle, 3 April 2017
New Reproductive Justice Guide Is a Powerful Vision for the Future, Rewire, 3 Apr 2017
How Lack Of Contraception Access Affects Mothers Abroad , Romper, 3 Apr 2017
What Does Title X Provide Mothers? The Grant Program Covers A Lot Of Health Issues , Romper, 3 Apr 2017
The Campaign to Lead the World Health Organization, The New York Times, 3 Apr 2017
Planned Parenthood serves more purpose than just abortion services, Kansan.com, 2 Apr 2017
Welcome to The Lancet Planetary Health, Lancet, April 2017
Destigmatizing abortions: the word, the act, and our reaction, Maine Family Planning, 31 Mar 2017
Coat Hangers And ODs: Life Before Abortion Was Legal, Cracked, 30 Mar 2017
Why the Senate voted to block funding for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers , PBS NewsHour, 30 Mar 2017
Family Planning Advocacy Through Religious Leaders, CCIH, January 2017
Academic
Meanings of abortion in context: accounts of abortion in the lives of women diagnosed with breast cancer, BMC Women’s Health, 5 Apr 2017
Father Absence and Accelerated Reproductive Development, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 4 Apr 2017
Child and Adolescent Health from 1990 to 2015, JAMA Pediatrics, 3 Apr 2017
Effectiveness of Vaccination During Pregnancy to Prevent Infant Pertussis, Pediatrics, April 2017
Postpartum Hemorrhage – Medications to Treat Uterine Atony , ObG Project, 29 Mar 2017
Botswana
Social media spikes cases of illegal abortions in Botswana – Report, APA News, 31 Mar 2017
Burkina Faso
Santé sexuelle et reproductive: l’AFJ/BF outille les acteurs judiciaires et extra-judiciaires, AIB, 3 Apr 2017
Burundi
Unwanted Pregnancies Ruining Young Lives , IWACU, 2 Apr 2017
DRC
Santé : les grossesses précoces, une cause de mortalité maternelle en RDC, ADIAC-Congo, 6 Apr 2017
Ethiopia
Urban Health Extension Gathering Momentum, Ethiopian Herald, 6 Apr 2017
Gambia
GFPA Sensitizes CBDs on Contraceptives, Reproductive Health , The Point, 31 Mar 2017
Kenya
Trump’s fund cut a threat to millions of lives, Daily Nation, 5 Apr, 2017
Malawi
Activists Ask Government to Enact New Abortion Law, CSJ News, 6 Apr 2017
Hazardous Malawi abortions responsible for high mortality rates, The Citizen (SA), 5 Apr 2017
First Lady holds interface meeting with youths on sexuality and HIV prevention , Nyasa Times, 2 Apr 2017
Namibia
Abortion and the Moral Oligarchs, Namibian Sun, 2 Apr 2017
Nigeria
Emir Sanusi blasts conservative northern leaders, Zamfara governor; calls for family planning, others, Premium Times, 5 April 2017
NGO Advocates Free Maternal Health Services for Reproductive Mothers, NTA, 3 April 2017
Olubadan leads advocacy for family planning , Daily Trust, 3 April 2017
Rwanda
New drive to promote reproductive health through mobile phones, The New Times, 6 Apr 2017
South Africa
Youth avoid sexual healthcare, Mail and Guardian, 7 Apr 2017
The right to reproductive health – Government and journalists need to do better, Daily Maverick, 5 Apr 2017
Ntando Duma Apologises For Exposing Her Cousin Who Had An Abortion, Youth Village, 29 Mar 2017
Tanzania
Boost family education to curb unsafe abortion, The Citizen, 5 Apr 2017
Uganda
Policies on maternal health should be based on more than cultural values, Daily Monitor, 7 Apr 2017
Zimbabwe
As aid rules tighten under Trump, Africa’s family planning clinics gear up for major gap, Christian Science Monitor, 7 Apr 2017
‘Girls on birth control unwisely skip condoms’ , Daily News, 2 Apr 2017
