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On the eve of World Population Day, the Washington, DC-based NGO Population Institute published a report on “Population and Climate Vulnerability”, which demonstrates important connections between population growth and society’s ability to manage climate change impacts.

Climate vulnerability is a measure of how badly climate change will affect human populations and ecosystems.  World Population Day is an annual observance established by the United Nations to highlight the importance and urgency of population issues.

The new report finds that in the 80 most climate-vulnerable countries, population is growing on average at twice the global rate. The combination of severe climate impacts and faster growth strains governments’ ability to provide basic services for climate adaptation and resilience, which further aggravates climate impacts and vulnerability.

In many of the most climate-vulnerable countries, rapid population growth is linked to gender inequality, including a lack of access to family planning and reproductive health services. The most climate vulnerable countries suffer some of the worst gender inequality, with rights, economic and educational opportunity, and health care access of women and girls curtailed. Gender inequality undercuts climate change resilience and adaptive capacity for individuals, households, and communities in the near-term, and is also a factor in ongoing population growth which exacerbates climate vulnerability over the long-term.

In the 80 most vulnerable countries, the average Gender Inequality Index is 0.521 (for comparison, the US GII is 0.179). These countries have about twice as many girls aged 15-19 giving birth each year compared to the global average. Their unmet family planning needs are nearly double the global average, and their maternal mortality rates are 25% higher.

The nexus between climate vulnerability and population growth is playing out domestically as well as globally,the report finds. Though less climate-vulnerable than many countries, the U.S. has disproportionately faster population growth in places more exposed to wildfires, hurricanes, and sea-level rise, including Florida and Texas, two of the fastest-growing states in the country.  While a majority of U.S. workers in sectors with significant occupational exposure to climate change are men, women in the U.S. are at higher risk of gender-based violence after natural disasters, and experience more severe consequences for their health and employment from climate impacts.

Both in the U.S. and globally, governments and donors are demonstrably failing to make sufficient investments in reproductive health and rights that could bridge unmet needs and further strengthen climate change resilience and adaptive capacity.  But this also presents an opportunity to devise holistic strategies to address the linked challenges of rapid population growth, gender inequality, and climate change vulnerability, the report finds.

“World Population Day offers an opportunity to reflect on population trends and what they mean for our future,” said Kathleen Mogelgaard, president and CEO of the Population Institute. “How population trends affect our ability to contend with the climate crisis is an area that tends to get overlooked.  But our report showcases examples of innovative, impactful, multisectoral efforts that model how the linked challenges of climate change vulnerability, gender equity, and reproductive health and rights can be addressed together.”

The report profiles innovative CSO and policy initiatives in the Philippines, Uganda, Niger, Guatemala and the US that do this by centering local groups, women, and youth on the front lines of climate impacts.  It argues that their approaches should be replicated and scaled up.

“Across Uganda, families and communities experience intertwined and interconnected challenges of rapid population growth, gender inequity, and climate change vulnerability,” said  Charles Kabiswa, executive director of Regenerate Africa. “Multisectoral strategies offer hope for long-term, collective benefit for healthy and resilient communities.”

“[Filipino] residents and policymakers alike believe that with sexual and reproductive health and rights, families and communities are healthier,” said Joan Castro, executive vice president of PATH Foundation Philippines“This contributes to building climate change resiliency, and [helps] slow population trends that exacerbate poverty and climate change impacts.”

“Once women have access to health and family planning services, and they are empowered in their rights, it is a natural next step that they are willing to participate in natural resources management an income-generation activities,” said Ingrid Arias, director of development at Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación(FUNDAECO) in Guatemala.

In Niger, the world’s most climate-vulnerable country, temperatures are rising faster than other parts of the world, which will cut agricultural yields in a country where 2.5 million people are already acutely food-insecure, and nearly half of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition. There Sani Ayouba co-founded and directs  Jeunes Volontaires pour l’Environnement (JVE), which works with young people and local CSOs on the front lines of these impacts to affect change on both the reproductive health and climate fronts, often against resistance from national politicians.  “Their perspectives need to be heard,” he said, “and frankly, they know better.”

The Population Institute report also features an assessment conducted by the Center For Biological Diversity (CBD) of climate plans in 21 U.S. municipalities. It found that only two plans indicated any awareness of gender differences in climate vulnerability, and only one, Boston’s, had any specific strategy to address them.

“In a society fueled by capitalism and consumption, a growing population means increased use of extractive systems,” said Kelley Dennings, CBD population and sustainability campaigner. “The status of women is inextricably linked to the health of our environment and climate. Through empowerment strategies like gender justice, reproductive freedom, education and equity, women are better able to adapt to climate change and become more engaged in climate solutions.”

“A deeper look into population growth trends includes investigating gender inequity and deficits in sexual and reproductive health and rights, both of which also serve to exacerbate vulnerability and limit adaptive capacity,” the Population Institute report concludes.  “Climate change adaptation strategies [could] incorporate consideration of these trends and their intersections and include interventions designed to tackle them. Examples highlighted in this report…offer insights and inspiration for such strategies…. The malleability of population trends, while not well understood by policymakers and the public, is among the most hopeful…aspects of the needed societal responses to human-caused climate change.”

On International Women’s Day on March 8, and in anticipation of the White House releasing President Biden’s proposed FY2024 budget on March 9, the Population Institute has published a new report showing why the U.S. should increase its financial and policy support for sexual health and reproductive rights (SRHR) around the world. The Population Institute is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC which advocates for gender equality and universal access to sexual and reproductive health services.

The report, “Connecting the Dots: Sexual and reproductive health and rights as prerequisites for global gender equality and empowerment,” articulates the key role of U.S. funding and policy in advancing rights and promoting health and wellness of women and girls. The report compiles current, sourced research and analysis on necessary funding components and policy steps to advance SRHR and gender equality and empowerment.

“Connecting the Dots” calls on the U.S. to nearly triple its allocations for bilateral family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programs, as well as its core contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), from a total of $607.5 million, unchanged over the last decade, to $1.736 billion, including $116 million for UNFPA. That’s the total amount estimated by the SRHR group, PAI, to a fair-share level of U.S. investment that would close the gap for the nearly 218 million women of reproductive age who have an unmet need for modern contraception in the Global South. This investment in the SRHR agenda would enable meaningful progress toward gender equality and empowerment worldwide, with the caveat that the current FP/RH programming and funding do not address to the full spectrum of SRHR issues and needs, and that additional programming and funding are needed. 

“Now is an opportune time to invest,” the report concludes. “Today there are 1.8 billion people between the ages of 10-24 – the largest generation of youth in history…. [It’s] critical…to keep pace with the SRH needs of this generation. But it will take a commitment from the U.S. to reestablish its leadership on global SRHR through robust investment – both financially and politically.”

“This is an important time for the U.S. to increase its investment in the SRHR agenda,” Kathleen Mogelgaard, Population Institute’s president. “The world’s population recently surpassed 8 billion people, reminding us that the scale of human needs will only continue to grow. U.S. investment in international family planning has stagnated amidst these growing needs, leaving millions behind.”

Gender equality and women’s empowerment are non-partisan, widely agreed goals. Making progress on them requires not only funding, but unequivocal support and commitment to SRHR as a prerequisite and an integral part of a broader agenda for gender equality and empowerment, including women’s and girls’ health; freedom from violence; and equal participation in education, the workforce, and politics. These issues require a holistic approach and an understanding that they are inextricably linked to SRHR.

“Channeling funding to improve gender equality and women’s empowerment without connecting the dots between women’s access to SRHR and their subsequent ability to participate in education, the workforce and political decision-making will inevitably weaken these efforts,” the report argues, proceeding to lay out specific policy steps needed to enable progress.

“It is critical that policymakers shift their mindsets from seeing SRHR as a siloed and contentious public health issue to seeing it as a prerequisite for advancing gender equality and empowerment,” said Bridget Kelly, Population Institute’s director of research for SRHR and one of four co-authors of the report. “Making progress is going to take a holistic understanding and approach, where SRHR is an integral part of the broader agenda. Policymakers determining U.S. foreign assistance priorities need to understand how gender equality and empowerment objectives are impacted by access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services.” 

Today, rePROs Fight Back, an initiative of the nonprofit Population Institute, released its annual 50 State Report Card on Reproductive Health and Rights covering 2022. Twenty-six states, and the US as a whole, received a failing grade.

The report card, originally created by the Population Institute over a decade ago and updated annually, tracks multiple indicators of reproductive health and rights. In 2022, US reproductive rights were decimated as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade which protected abortion rights. 14 states banned or severely restricted access to abortion.  A total of 24 states are expected to ban abortion in the near future. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 18 million women*of reproductive age, plus more transgender and non-binary people, are now unable to access abortion in the state where they live.  Meanwhile, a Trump appointed federal judge in Texas could rule as soon as next week on a suit that could revoke FDA approval of mifepristone, potentially blocking access nationwide to a key drug used in medication abortions.

“The report card’s dismally low grades reflect a human rights crisis unfolding in this country,” said Jennie Wetter, Director of rePROs Fight Back. “People in large regions of the county are prevented from accessing abortion care. Many must either travel great distances to get it, or if they aren’t able to travel, they may be forced to carry unwanted pregnancies. And there is no indication that anti-rights advocates will stop at abortion. We have already seen clear signs that they intend to attack trans peoples’ access to healthcare and other LGBTQ+ rights, medication abortion, contraception, and much more.”

The rePROs report card methodology ranks each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia on three broad indicators relating to reproductive health and rights: prevention, affordability, and access. Criteria include sex education, minors’ access to birth control, access to emergency contraception in the emergency room, Medicaid expansion including family planning expansion, abortion policy, and more. Based on their composite scores of 0-100, each state received a “core” grade of “A”, “B”, “C”, “D”, or “F”. Some states receive an additional “plus” or “minus” grade for factors not reflected in the core grade.

The following states received a failing grade in this year’s report card: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Four states received an “A:” California, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Washington. You can view each individual state’s report card here.

For the fourth year in a row, the U.S. as a whole received an “F”.  The major reason was the June 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which eliminated the federal right to abortion access and sent it back to individual states to decide abortion laws. As a result, people who live in states where abortion is or will be illegal must either travel to access abortion care, expose themselves to legal risk by self-managing, or be forced to carry the pregnancy to term.

“This is a gross violation of human rights and strikes a blow to values of individual agency, bodily autonomy, and equitable access to health care,” said Wetter.  “The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe sent reverberations around the country. The effects are devastating and not felt equally. BIPOC, people with low-incomes, young people, those with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community, and those at multiple intersections of these identities are the most impacted. In the wake of Dobbs, it became more apparent than ever that there are two Americas: one in which people can exercise their reproductive rights and another in which they cannot. We must refuse to accept this as a new normal; we must fight for a future with reproductive freedom for all.”

*rePROs Fight Back (rePROs) intentionally uses the term “women” when describing data that did not include nonbinary people or trans men in the research. Otherwise, rePROs is committed to using gender-inclusive language to represent all individuals who deserve full access to SRHR services.

 For the complete report card and additional information, please visit: https://www.populationinstitute.org/resource/a-tale-of-two-americas/

 Special thanks to the Guttmacher Institute whose research made this report card possible.

 rePROs Fight Back is an initiative of the Population Institute.

On Tuesday, November 15, 2022, it is projected that the world’s population will surpass 8 billion people. According to the UN’s World Population Prospects 2022, global population will continue to expand for decades, likely peaking around 10.4 billion by 2080. Global population reached 7 billion in 2011 and was estimated at 4 billion in 1974.  Commenting on the 8 billion population milestone, Kathleen Mogelgaard, President and CEO of the Population Institute, made the following statement:

“The Day of 8 billion is an important turning point and wake-up call.  The largest generation in human history is coming of age right now.  The reproductive decisions they make – and the opportunities, services, and rights they can claim — will profoundly influence our global future.

Rapid population growth in the 20^th century reflects public health progress, which lowered infant and child mortality and extended people’s lives. But continued rapid growth would adversely affect people and the planet, stressing public health, the climate and environment, food security, water, and infrastructure, and fueling civil conflict, displacement, and global inequity. These are challenges that will reverberate in every corner of the world.

The global population growth rate is slowing, and projected to level off in the 2080s.  But in many places, rapid population growth will continue and add another 2.4 billion people in this century – the equivalent of 250 New York Cities.   Most of that growth will be concentrated in Africa and other places in the global South. This concentration reflects severe inequities facing women, youth, and marginalized communities in these places.

Today, hundreds of millions of people around the world lack reproductive autonomy.  They are not free to decide whether, when, and with whom to become a parent. Half of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended, a situation the United Nations Population Fund calls a “neglected crisis of unintended pregnancy.”

We need to do better, and we can.  Population growth projections are not the same as predictions; our population trajectory can change. We know that dismantling barriers to family planning services, helping girls stay in school longer and reach higher levels of educational attainment, and upholding women’s autonomy and rights—all important development objectives in their own right— also have the important effect of bending the population growth curve.  If governments and development donors invest more in policies and programs that do these things starting now, we’ll have slower growth, and a more just and sustainable future.”

Senator Cory Booker today introduced the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act. This is the first-ever legislation to repeal the Helms Amendment, a 50-year-old policy that bans the use of United States foreign assistance for abortion, putting an arbitrary line between abortion care and all other global health services.

Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) also lead this critical legislation, which has 21 original cosponsors.

Sen. Booker introduced the proposed legislation with bill co-leads earlier today.

“We know that in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, Americans will be denied access to essential health care services across the United States; however, the repercussions also go beyond our borders. This disastrous decision will be felt around the world, setting back many countries who have long used Roe v. Wade as the basis to strengthen abortion rights protections in their own countries. We must take immediate action to mitigate the global impact of this decision,” said Sen. Booker. “For that reason, I am proud to introduce the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, which will repeal the Helms Amendment and ensure that U.S. foreign assistance can be used for safe abortion services overseas.”

Enacted in 1973, the Helms Amendment is found in the Foreign Assistance Act and has been passed as part of Congressional appropriations bills every year for nearly five decades. It is an antiquated, neo-colonialist policy that has, for nearly 50 years, curbed global reproductive and economic freedom around the world.

The policy prohibits U.S. foreign aid from being used for ‘the performance of abortion as a method of family planning.’ But in practice, Helms has banned all U.S. foreign assistance funds from being used for any abortion care. This policy exacerbates existing health disparities; and denies millions of mostly Black and brown people in low-to-middle income
countries the care they need and want.

“I am proud to lead the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act in the House, the first-ever legislation to repeal the racist 49-year-old Helms Amendment. This harmful policy bars US Foreign Assistance from being used to offer abortion care, even in countries where abortion is legal. That is wrong. The United States should not be standing in the way of healthcare in other countries,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. “Now, for the first time in history, this legislation is being introduced in the U.S. Senate. I am grateful for Senator Booker’s leadership to repeal the Helms Amendment and expand abortion access in this critical moment. Abortion is health care, and health care is a human right.”

The Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act is an opportunity for the U.S. to fulfil its commitment to protecting and promoting the reproductive health and rights of people living overseas. There is no doubt the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will not only deny millions of people living in the U.S. their fundamental rights to health care, to bodily autonomy, and to freedom, but it will also have a ripple effect around the world. Introducing the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act in the Senate is an opportunity for Congress to address negative global impacts of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, by protecting and promoting the reproductive health and rights of people living overseas.

A broad coalition of global reproductive health, rights and justice advocacy, research, and service-delivery organizations celebrates this historic introduction today. This group has been working to mitigate and address the harms caused by the Helms Amendment for over a decade. Additionally, the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act is endorsed by more than 180 organizations and quotes from several groups can be found below for inclusion in media coverage.

More information can be found at repealhelms.org.

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Kathleen Mogelgaard, President and CEO, Population Institute

“For almost 50 years the United States has exported a harmful anti-abortion policy with the Helms Amendment. The Helms Amendment is a racist, colonialist policy that has put at risk the health, lives, and reproductive freedom of people across the world who have no say in U.S. policies. On the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, it is more important than ever that we fight to eliminate harmful barriers to abortion care for everyone. The Population Institute strongly supports the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, that would repeal the Helms Amendment, and we thank Senator Booker for leading this bill along with co-leads Senators Richard Blumenthal, Tammy Duckworth, Mazie Hirono, and Tina Smith. Now is the time to end this harmful and imperialist policy, because abortion is a human right and everyone, no matter where they live, deserves access to abortion care.”

Iffath Abbasi Hoskins, MD, FACOG, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)

Following the catastrophic decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, it is more important than ever that the United States promote the right to comprehensive, evidence-based medical care, including abortion, here and around the world. ACOG applauds Senator Booker for introducing the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act as our international partners turn to Congress for leadership as they witness the erosion of women’s rights on our own soil. This legislation is a bold step forward in the fight for global reproductive freedom and access to lifesaving care.

Kelley Dennings, Campaigner, Center for Biological Diversity

Universal access to abortion as part of reproductive healthcare is a basic human right. All of us should have agency over our bodies and our decisions about whether — and when — to have children. When safe, legal abortion is restricted, either in the United States or elsewhere in the world, it endangers patients and limits the ability of people to receive comprehensive medical services, make informed healthcare decisions and choose when to start a family. Now is the time to repeal the Helms Amendment.

Nadya Dutchin, Executive Director, American Humanist Association

Humanists affirm that everyone, everywhere should be able to obtain a safe abortion and have the resources they need to access comprehensive reproductive health care; shamefully, however, the Helms amendment has stood in the way of many in the international community who seek such care and prosperity. The Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act rightfully seeks to fix injustice in U.S. foreign assistance policy by making resources available that ensure abortions are safe and accessible, particularly to those who are most marginalized and need family planning services, and the American Humanist Association is proud to endorse this legislation for putting humanitarianism and health first.

Christy Turlington Burns, Founder, Every Mother Counts

Access to abortion care is central to the health and human rights of women and pregnant people, both in the United States and globally. Globally, unsafe abortion, which results from barriers to accessing safe, respectful abortion care, is a leading cause of maternal deaths and complications. Every Mother Counts supports the Abortion is Healthcare Everywhere Act, which would repeal the Helms Amendment, a harmful abortion restriction that keeps maternal and reproductive health care, including abortion care, out of reach for people around the world, and prevents pregnant people and mothers from making decisions about whether, when, and how to give birth.

Giselle Carino, CEO of Fòs Feminista

“The repeal of Helms Amendment, which violates the basic right to self-determination, is long overdue. The U.S. must stop curtailing the life projects of Global South women, girls and people who can become pregnant. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, this is a key moment for global solidarity on advancing abortion rights and in particular to provide information, medication, and support to women and other pregnant people for self-managing an abortion. Feminist activism and movement building across the Global South are bringing about positive change, from the Green Wave in Latin America that successfully pressed for decriminalization of abortion in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, to the recent victories to dismantle colonial-area criminalization laws in Benin, Kenya and Sierra Leone. Now is the time to strengthen transnational connections to secure hard-won rights, hold governments accountable, and advance decriminalization of abortion in laws, policies, and social norms.”

Dr. Herminia Palacio, president and CEO, Guttmacher Institute

Congress still has the opportunity to demonstrate with actions the US government’s commitment to global healthcare equity and women’s rights by repealing the harmful Helms amendment and passing the Abortion Is Health Care Everywhere Act. The Helms amendment is a deeply unjust and discriminatory policy that prohibits health care organizations abroad from using US global health assistance funds to support safe abortion services. Like other abortion restrictions, this funding ban most harshly impacts people with the fewest resources, including those who have low incomes, are young, or live in rural areas. The evidence is clear and irrefutable: Abortion is an experience shared by millions of people worldwide, both in places where abortion is highly restricted and where it is broadly legal. We urge Congress to recognize the basic human right of all people to decide freely whether and when to be pregnant, and whether and when to bear children.

Peggy Clark, President and CEO, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)

The International Center for Research on Women applauds the Senate introduction of the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, repealing the Helms Amendment. For over four decades, the Helms Amendment has limited access to essential sexual and reproductive health services worldwide by restricting funding for abortion care. Abortion is an essential health care service and should be upheld as such, and access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and wellness services is a human right. Our research shows that people of all genders who have bodily autonomy are healthier, are more financially secure and are more empowered in their decision-making and participation in social and political life. So we are thankful to the sponsors and co-sponsors of this bill to moving the U.S. one step closer to removing restrictions on foreign assistance so that it can fully support comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights and enable people that get pregnant to have healthier lives with their human rights respected.

Anu Kumar, Ipas President and CEO

Abortion is health care. Everyone, no matter who, no matter where, must have access. When people don’t have access to abortion, they face greater economic struggles, their children have fewer resources; women, pregnant people and providers can go to jail; many people are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term; and being pregnant and giving birth is riskier than having an abortion. Everyone has less freedom.

For the last 50 years, the Helms Amendment has denied people—in low-to-middle income countries—their reproductive rights and the care they want and need. This neo-colonialist policy has played politics with people’s lives in countries thousands of miles away. And now we see the same thing happening in the US.

The time to act is now. Passing the Abortion is Healthcare Everywhere Act would save the lives of millions of people around the world. This would move us closer to a vision of reproductive justice and a world where everyone can make their own decisions about their future and health with dignity and respect.

Macarena Sáez, Executive Director, Women’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch (HRW)

“Reproductive rights are human rights. This means that access to reproductive health, including access to abortion services, should be guaranteed to women and pregnant people throughout the United States. We’ve extensively documented how abortion bans across the globe increase unsafe abortion, leading to higher maternal mortality and morbidity rates. The Helms Amendment goes against Human Rights Watch’s consistent and yearslong evidence that accessible and safe abortion is essential to protect the rights to life, health, and privacy, among others”.

Mini Timmaraju, President, NARAL Pro-Choice America

“For more than four decades, the Helms Amendment has blocked access to abortion care for people around the world. That is, simply put, unacceptable. As anti-choice extremists wage attack after attack on abortion rights in our country, the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act reaffirms our commitment to reproductive freedom for everybody – here and around the world. We applaud Sen. Booker for introducing the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act and his commitment to ensuring that communities across the globe have the freedom to make their own decisions about their lives, families, and futures.”

Jody Rabhan, Chief Policy Officer, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)

“At the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), we know that abortion is safe, essential, time-sensitive health care and that health care is a basic human right. Our Jewish values teach us that every single person’s health is unassailable and that all deserve fair treatment and access to the resources necessary to make their own decisions about abortion without political interference or economic coercion. The Helms Amendment has long turned this principle on its head, denying care to millions of individuals around the world and hindering the exercise of their fundamental reproductive rights by blocking use of U.S. foreign assistance funds for abortions services. NCJW is proud to endorse the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act to repeal this dangerous policy and to support access to high-quality, comprehensive reproductive health care services worldwide.”

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, Executive Director, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

“Abortion and access to reproductive medicine is healthcare. And access to healthcare is a fundamental human right, something we all must do our part to provide and guarantee if we are to live up to the teaching that all people are created in God’s image. All people must be afforded the dignity, honor and basic needs to live healthy and whole lives. And abortion care is a central comnent of a dignified human life.”

Christian F. Nunes, President, National Organization for Women (NOW)

The National Organization for Women fully supports the Abortion is Healthcare Everywhere Act and calls on Congress to swiftly pass this critical legislation. The Helms Amendment is an antiquated, blatantly racist policy that puts the world’s most vulnerable women at risk by denying them the reproductive health services they so desperately need. This cruel and arbitrary amendment prevents women – particularly Black and Brown women – from becoming leaders in their communities and uplifting economies, leaving them with few options. The United States has long positioned itself as a global leader that fosters equity and equality across borders; the Abortion is Healthcare Everywhere Act will help restore our commitment to advancing gender equality around the world.

Rev. Katey Zeh, CEO, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC)

“No matter where someone lives, access to comprehensive reproductive health care and family planning measures—including abortion—is one of the most powerful determining factors in their level of education, economic security, health, and overall quality of life. For nearly five decades, the Helms Amendment has worked to block people around the globe from receiving this essential care.

We see this as an ongoing example of U.S. white patriarchal Christian imperialism and a direct attack on religious liberty and individual rights, health, and dignity. People across faith traditions all over the world seek abortion care, and we each possess the sacred human right to exercise our own moral conscience in making decisions about our bodies. The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) is honored to be part of the efforts to support the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act and bring an end to the unjust Helms Amendment, and we thank Senator Hirono for leading this much-needed bill.”

Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, President & CEO, PAI

“Globally, at least 35 million women have abortions in unsafe conditions every year. Unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity in low- and middle-income countries where there are significant barriers to accessing quality abortion care.

“Restrictive U.S. foreign policies like the Helms amendment create an added burden and undermine country-led efforts to meet the needs of their own communities, reduce maternal mortality and bolster reproductive rights. As the largest donor of global health assistance, the U.S. government is compounding health inequities and amplifying a policy that harms people and their communities.

“The Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, which permanently repeals the Helms amendment, would result in at least 19 million fewer unsafe abortions annually, leading to 17,000 fewer maternal deaths and 12 million fewer women needing medical treatment for complications from unsafe procedures. We welcome its introduction in the Senate and urge its swift passage through Congress so that U.S. policy is guided by science, embraces human rights and the autonomy and agency of all people and aligns with global public health institutions that recognize abortion as essential health care.”

Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA)

“Ending the Helms Amendment is a powerful step toward ensuring that U.S. foreign policy expands access to quality, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care services beyond its borders, including abortion. For far too long, the Helms Amendment has denied people of their reproductive rights, kept them from the essential health care they want and need, and reduced the availability of safe, legal abortion. It’s a coercive policy that forces the extreme ideology of a vocal minority in the U.S. on people in many of the lowest-income countries in the world. The policy is a stark example of neocolonialism and deeply rooted in white supremacy, designed to take advantage of the uneven relationship between the U.S. and the countries that receive aid.

“We thank Senators Booker, Duckworth, Hirono, Blumenthal, and Smith for introducing this critical legislation as an important step to protecting abortion access globally.”

Karl Hofmann, President & CEO, Population Services International (PSI)

“Repeal of the Helms Amendment is long overdue. We support the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere act as a critical first step in a long journey to address the damage the U.S. has caused to the reproductive rights of people in other countries. The Helms Amendment has hypocritically and systematically stifled free speech in sovereign countries, impeded the provision of legal abortion allowable under their laws, and in the process contributed to avoidable maternal deaths due to unsafe abortion and a scarcity of post-abortion care. The Helms Amendment has been undermining independent partner nations since the Nixon administration. It’s well past the time to end this discriminatory and harmful statute. “

Erin Matson, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Reproaction

“Abortion access is a human right, and the Helms Amendment has caused harm and suffering to people around the world. Reproaction strongly supports the passage of the Abortion Is Health Care Everywhere Act. The U.S.-based anti-abortion agenda is a significant driver of maternal mortality and worse outcomes for babies around the world, it’s far from ‘pro life.’. The time to end this is now.”

Jocelyn Foye, Executive Director, The Womxn Project

“There is a dangerous and calculated agenda to take away all access to abortion. Whether it is abortion bans pushed through the US or the harmful policies we export across the globe, politicians are trying to deny us the agency and autonomy in our own reproductive lives. And like other political games, these policies fall hardest on marginalized communities who already struggle to get healthcare. We are proud to work with our partners to get rid of the Helms Amendment and take on any attempt to take away our most personal decisions.”

Sonja Spoo, Director of Reproductive Rights Campaigns, UltraViolet

“Bodily autonomy and access to reproductive healthcare is the foundation of a better future for all people. The fight for reproductive freedom is a global fight that we must continue both at home and in solidarity with people around the world as they work to advance reproductive freedom. Critically, that means doing our part to ensure reproductive oppression is not a rote part of our global policy and aid. As we continue to fight back against the loss of constitutional protections for abortion in the United States, we cannot forget the broader fight for reproductive health, rights, and justice. We must continue to advocate to dismantle the policies implemented that deny the world’s most vulnerable communities the right to abortion and other critical forms of reproductive healthcare. We urge Congress to work to pass the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act as part of the overall work to expand access to abortion around the world and in the U.S.

Renee Bracey Sherman, Founder & Executive Director, We Testify

“In this moment, we need abortion access at any time, for any reason, anywhere and everywhere. The Helms Amendment is an outdated, xenophobic and racist policy that forces people of other nations to abide by horrific American anti-abortion beliefs. The Helms Amendment is unjust and colonialist at its core. What’s happening right now in the United States cannot continue to spread globally. The We Testify abortion storytellers have had abortions and we know the powerful impact safe access has had on our lives. It’s time for the United States to end its imperialist reign and repeal the Helms Amendment to ensure everyone has access to abortion care, no matter where they live.”

North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology

“Adolescents and young adults both in the US and abroad deserve access to health systems which acknowledge their reproductive rights. For 47 years, the Helms Amendment has stood in the way of ensuring support globally for adolescents and young adults to receive confidential and comprehensive sexual and reproductive care, infringing on this human right on an international scale. Abortion care is essential health care, and the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology applauds and endorses the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act in its aim to repeal Helms and remove this barrier to much needed health care for our patients worldwide.”

Akila Radhakrishnan, President, Global Justice Center

“With the devastating decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the US is facing a crisis moment for abortion access domestically. Globally, the US has been exporting its ideology for nearly five decades through policies like the Helms Amendment which denies essential medical care and has been interpreted as a total ban on abortion services and information, even in countries where abortion is legal. This harmful policy puts the US in violation of its human rights obligations, denies access to hard fought rights around the world, and it is long past time for its repeal.”

Dr. Marcelle Cedars, President, American Society for Reproductive Medicine

“As we saw with the overturning of Roe v Wade, expanding access to reproductive care is more important now than ever, especially in developing countries where access to safe care is even more difficult to receive. Abortion access is part of reproductive health care and that is why the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act (AHCE) is so important. We applaud the introduction of this legislation and encourage Congress to do everything in its power to ensure access to comprehensive reproductive health care services is available in the US and in developing countries.”

Shannon Russell, Director of Policy, Catholics for Choice

“Catholics for Choice is proud to join with moral leaders like Sen. Cory Booker in support of the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, which would permanently end the Helms Amendment. For decades, Helms has endangered the lives of the most vulnerable people in the world — particularly Black and Brown women, trans men, and non-binary people— by denying them access to basic, life-saving reproductive healthcare. It is a grave affront to our values as faithful Catholics and American citizens, which compel us to advocate for free speech, freedom of religion, and care for the most marginalized in society. The Senate must swiftly pass the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act and end this racist, unconscionable policy once and for all.”

Tammy Tibbetts, Co-Founder & CEO, She’s the First

“Every girl has the right to choose her own future. Restrictions on abortion care impact girls’ health and agency at this moment, but these regulations also drastically narrow girls’ ability to choose their path as they grow into adulthood. Abortion restrictions diminish everyone’s freedom.

She’s the First supports the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act because all pregnant people should be able to access the care they need. This legislation would repeal the Helms Amendment, allowing U.S. foreign aid to fund life-saving health care. We support everyone’s right to bodily autonomy, critical healthcare, and privacy. To create a world where girls are respected, we must establish policies that protect their rights.”

Rori Kramer, Director of U.S. Advocacy, American Jewish World Service (AJWS)

“American Jewish World Service applauds the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, historic legislation which makes clear that abortion is an essential form of health care and that access to abortion is a fundamental human right. For nearly 50 years, the racist Helms Amendment has imposed arbitrary and harmful restrictions on abortion services, allowing the United States to control the bodily autonomy and dignity of vulnerable communities around the world, especially Black and brown individuals, LGBTQI+ people and sex workers.

As a faith-based organization committed to upholding the reproductive rights of all people, AJWS is grateful to the leadership of U.S. Senator Cory Booker and his colleagues — Sens. Blumenthal, Duckworth, Hirono, and Smith – for their commitment to upholding abortion as a human right for all people.”

Nancy Northup, President and CEO, Center for Reproductive Rights

“The Helms Amendment has long contributed to the erosion of people’s bodily autonomy and fundamental human rights by stripping them of the ability to make informed decisions about their health and denying access to abortion care. It prevents U.S.-funded health care providers from offering comprehensive and essential reproductive healthcare, even when a pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or to preserve the life or health of the pregnant person. Access to abortion is recognized as an international human right obligation and over 60 countries across all regions of the world have liberalized their abortion laws in the last 30 years. The U.S. is the only country in the world to have taken such an extreme and retrogressive step to end constitutional protections for abortion access and exports these harms via anti-abortion foreign policies. Congress must pass the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act and eliminate the Helms Amendment once and for all.”

Tara Romano, Executive Director of Pro-Choice North Carolina

“The overwhelming majority of North Carolinians believe in abortion access and that abortion is healthcare. Former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms was extremely out of touch with North Carolinians and the world, and he imposed his anti-abortion beliefs on people across the globe with the Helms Amendment, which prohibits foreign government and non-governmental organizations who receive U.S. foreign assistance from using that money to provide abortion care, even if abortion is legal in their country. These kinds of abortion bans disproportionately impact the lives and health of women of color, people of color, and Indigenous people, and run counter to the basic human right of all people to access healthcare and to access abortion. As a North Carolina organization, we call for a full and permanent repeal of the Helms Amendment!”

Today, World Population Day, the United Nations Population Division released World Population Prospects 2022, which includes new projections of world population growth through 2100. The new report projects that global population will surpass 8 billion people in November of this year and will likely peak around 10.4 billion around 2080. Global population reached 7 billion on October 31, 2011. In 1950, world population was estimated at 2.6 billion.

Commenting on these new projections, Kathleen Mogelgaard, President and CEO of the Population Institute, made the following statement:

“Today’s revision of global population projections released by the UN Population Division paints a mixed picture. On the one hand, it indicates a slow-down in global population growth relative to previous projections. This is evidence of overall progress in health services and reproductive rights, which helped cut fertility rates in half during the last half-century, especially in the developed world.

“On the other hand, the new numbers also reflect persistently high population growth rates in many other places across the global South. In those population growth hotspots, rapid growth compounds other problems such as natural resource constraints, food insecurity, poverty, pandemic recovery, and lack of access to education and health services.

“High population growth is a priority equity issue.  It causes disproportionate suffering in poorer, less developed parts of the world, and exacerbates health disparities, gender inequality, and other inequities youth and other marginalized groups face.

“Reproductive autonomy—the ability to freely determine whether and when to have children – is a basic human right.  Yet it remains out of reach for too many women and girls. Many are pressured into marriage and having children while they are still children themselves.

“The new population projections tell a tale of two diverging worlds and underscore the need to rethink our global commitments.  The UN report should prompt the international donor community to direct more attention and resources to redress global disparities and chronic inequities before current demographic trends make them much worse. More support for family planning and educating and empowering girls is long overdue.  It could dramatically lower regional birth rates, generate strong economic returns, and improve prospects for a more just and sustainable future.”

Today the Supreme Court, in their decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, rejected 50 years of precedent by overturning Roe v. Wade. The decision eliminates the federal right to abortion access and sends it back to the states to decide. This will decimate abortion access in this country, as 26 states are likely to ban abortion in the wake of this decision.

People who live in states where abortion will be illegal will now be forced to travel to access abortion care or forced to carry the pregnancy to term. This is a gross violation of human rights, and strikes a blow to values of privacy, individual agency, bodily autonomy, and equitable access to health care. The impacts of this decision will reverberate across the country, but they will not be felt equally. Black, Indigenous, and people of color, those with low incomes, young people, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQI+ community will bear a disproportionate burden of this decision.

The powerful dissent co-written by Justice Breyer, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Kagan lays out what is at stake: The majority “says that from the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of. A State can force her to bring a pregnancy to term, even at the steepest personal and familial costs….With sorrow–for this Court, but more for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection–we dissent.”

It also points out that the majority will not stop with abortion: “And no one should be confident that the majority is done with its work. The right Roe and Casey recognized does not stand alone.”

Now is the time for our leaders at all levels of government to be bold and take action, as their decisions will directly determine who is able to access abortion. We hope you will join us in making your voice heard in the fight to protect and defend this fundamental right to bodily autonomy.

Today’s ruling is not the end of the fight. We will keep fighting to ensure that everyone is able to access affordable abortion care no matter who they are or where they live.

Last night, Politico released a leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that would erase 50 years of precedent by overturning Roe v. Wade. The opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, says that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” and that “Roe and Casey must be overruled.” If this is the final ruling, legal authority to regulate abortion will return to the states—and many states are poised to outlaw abortion altogether.

Access to reproductive health care, including abortion, is critical for the health and well-being of people everywhere. Overturning Roe would be an egregious violation of human rights, by denying people the right to abortion. The loss of protections under Roe will disproportionately impact Black and Brown people, people with low incomes, young people, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQI+ community.

It is important to note that this is a leaked decision, and it has not been officially released by the Supreme Court. Abortion remains legal in all 50 states, and Roe v. Wade has not yet been overturned.

If Roe is ultimately overturned, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to determine the legality and accessibility of abortion. We hope you will join us in making your voice heard in the fight to protect and defend this fundamental right.