Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) are steadfast champions on this issue and deserve immense praise for their leadership to ensure this bipartisan legislation passed. Please take a moment and thank them for their work to end early and forced marriage. We now look to the Administration to do its part to ensure that sufficient attention and resources are directed to girls most in need to prevent more marriages from occurring and to support married adolescents. Together, we can all do our part to end this practice and secure the basic human right of all people to decide if, when, and whom they marry.

Working on the funding bill for the State Department and U.S. foreign assistance programs, today the Senate Appropriations Committee repudiated the negative action recently taken in the House.  The overall funding levels in the Senate bill for family planning and reproductive health programs were set at $700 million (an increase of about $125 million from last year’s levels – in an attempt to make up for disproportionate cuts in the past).  And, rather than seeking to defund UNFPA, as the House bill does, the Senate committee included $44.5 million for reproductive health services in more than 140 countries.

In direct opposition to House action, the Senate Committee included a provision to prohibit a futurePresident from unilaterally imposing the Global Gag Rule. The amendment was offered by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) – a stalwart supporter of reproductive rights – and passed by a vote of 18-12. Committee Democrats (with the exception of Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), supported it and were joined by Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mark Kirk (by proxy, as he is absent from the Senate due to health issues). Please take a moment to call or email Senator Frank Lautenberg and thank him for his continued commitment to women and girls’ basic human right to access the information and services they need to promote their health and well-being.

Additional good news: the bill contains language to allow abortion services for Peace Corps volunteers in cases of rape, incest, and life endangerment of the woman.  This is progress of sorts – and if enacted would give Peace Corps volunteers the same right federal employees already have in other federal programs.

Next step is action by the full Senate – and then the House and Senate will need to work out differences between the two versions of their bills before sending to the President for signature into law.

Leaving no stone unturned, women’s health opponents are working again to eliminate funding for international family planning and reproductive health programs, as well as funding to UNFPA, the global agency that supports a breadth of reproductive health services for women in extreme poverty in more than 140 countries.  The funding bill for the State Department and foreign assistance programs around the world brought before the House Appropriations Committee on May 17 includes provisions to reinstate the Global Gag Rule as well as defund UNFPA.  As expected, the committee rejected three amendments offered by women’s health supporters to try and fix these problems in the bill.

The one surprise was that the amendment to restore funding to UNFPA, offered by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), failed in a tie after four Republicans broke with their party line and supported the amendment.  (There are 29 Republicans on the committee and 21 Democrats.)  Her amendment was an attempt to gain support from Members that don’t support a breadth of reproductive health issues provided by UNFPA, and so would have targeted a $39 million U.S. contribution only for efforts to prevent and treat obstetric fistula, to promote the abandonment of female genital mutilation and other harmful traditional practices including child marriage, and to ensure safe childbirth and emergency obstetric care.  Who could object to meeting those health needs?  Evidently most every Republican on the committee, except for Representatives Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Steven LaTourette (R-OH), Charles Dent (R-PA) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).  The amendment failed on a tie vote of 24-24.  We applaud and value the principled position taken by these members – and if you have a chance, we encourage you to share the news about their strong positions in your networks or by giving their offices a call through the capitol switchboard (202-224-3121). (Emails are only accepted from their constituents.)

In another effort to directly target at U.S. contribution to UNFPA for specific activities only, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) offered an amendment stating that it would be directed to only family planning services and contraceptive supplies in low-income sub-Saharan African countries where USAID this type of assistance, specifically Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Togo.  Again, the amendment was defeated – this time by a vote of 22 to 27.

And yet one more attempt to strengthen the bill for women’s health, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) offered an amendment striking the draft bill’s provision codifying the Global Gag Rule and prohibiting a U.S. contribution to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and replacing with language designating a $39 million contribution to UNFPA with the current restrictions on that contribution that are already in place to appease some member’s concerns about the fact that UNFPA works in China, even though its efforts there are to end coercive family planning practices.  Again, the amendment failed – this time on a vote of 23 to 27.  Thanks to the vocal support during consideration of the amendment from Reps. Jim Moran (D-VA), Sam Farr (D-CA), and Steven Rothman (D-NJ).

The base bill is problematic on the funding levels as well, including a $149 million cut to international family planning means about 8 million fewer women in developing countries would have access to contraceptives and other health needs.  This completely undermines the kinds of progress being made in reducing death from pregnancy and childbirth.

Dold expressed need for the bill because of “the growing number of efforts to discriminate against and exclude organizations like Planned Parenthood from participating in health care programs”.    Though no one expects the Republican majority in the House to pass the Protecting Women’s Access to Health Care Act, we welcome the effort by Rep. Dold to bring forward this straightforward approach to health care.  Given the ongoing assault on contraceptive access at the state and federal level, it is a welcome site to see this Member of Congress working to protect women’s health.

IWHC and our advocate colleagues, including members of RESURJ, are very excited that late Friday, UN member states issued a bold resolution in support of young people’s sexual and reproductive health and human rights. This victory is a result of a week of very long days: hard work and strategic advocacy was put forth by an amazing group of advocates, who camped out at the UN here in New York for many long hours, going over language, making suggestions, and working with country delegates to make much-needed changes in the resolution.

Key points of the final resolution include:

• The right of young people to decide on all matters related to their sexuality
• Access to sexual and reproductive health services, including safe abortion where legal, that respect confidentiality and do not discriminate
• The right of youth to comprehensive sexuality education
• Protection and promotion of young people’s right to control their sexuality free from violence, discrimination and coercion

“At this time of global uncertainty, there is no more important investment to be made,” said South African youth delegate Kgomotso Papo during the closing plenary. “Only healthy young people whose human rights are protected can be fully productive workers and effective participants in their country’s political processes.  Only when young people are healthy and empowered can they contribute to building strong communities and vibrant nations.”

Below you will find a blog written by AiP participant Maxsalia Salmon of the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network that underscores the importance of reaching a resolution at CPD, for the sake of protecting the rights of young people around the world.

It’s Friday the 27th of April (the proposed date for the closing of the 45th session of the CPD) and following days of opposition to proposed texts the members of the commission as it stands are currently awaiting the chairs text so as to proceed. As we gather with bated breath awaiting the resumption of today’s session the young people who have gathered from around the world stand committed to pushing for a resolution document today.

Notwithstanding the fact the nearly 95% of the delegates representing the UN nations at this year’s CPD session themed “Adolescent and Youth” are adults and dare I say elders in some cases I must salute the youth and the countries who have ensured  that young people are a part of the process. Their unrelenting attitude continues to motivate us here each day. With that said I must express my disappointment with the nations (including my own) who refused for whatever reason to include young people in this process. It cannot be emphasized enough how important it is to have young people being involved at all stages when we seek to make polices, programmes and even draft international agreements that affect their lives.

So it seems the issues surrounding sexual and reproductive health and rights for young people are one of the main reasons why the delegates have been unable to reach agreement on proposed text. It is preposterous to me that facts such as those highlighted by UNAIDS in the statements presented at this year’s CPD session have not clarified the need to have a comprehensive approach to addressing youth SRHR issues. Facts which show for example that young people accounted for 42% of all HIV infections in people aged 15 and older and that in low and middle income countries only 24% of young women and 36% of young men have comprehensive knowledge of HIV. It must be acknowledged by nations that all adolescents and youth have a right to sexual and reproductive health, to live free from violence and coercion, and to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights. Youth involvement, comprehensive sexuality education, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services, an enabling legal and socio-cultural environment, and recognition of youth diversity are critical to ensuring that young people lead healthy lives.

Standing committed to youth development,
Maxsalia

Debora Diniz, founder of ANIS and now a member of the IWHC Board of Directors, share her perspective with us: “The Justices who voted in favor justified their votes on women’s reproductive rights, which expands the understanding of the right to abortion beyond the case of anencephaly.”

Although this may seem like a tiny bit of progress in a larger struggle for the right to safe and legal abortion, after either years in the court system it is both a symbolic and actual shift toward greater reproductive rights.

On April 12, the Secretariat of Policies for Women issued a note saying the Government will ensure that the decision of the Supreme Court is enforced in the public health system.

Here’s what some of the Supreme Court judges had to say during the hearing:

“Being a martyr must an option. If anyone wants to carry the pregnancy to term, she can do it. Nobody will prohibit it… However, being forced to carry to term a pregnancy of an anencephalic fetus puts a women in a prison in her own body.” -Justice Marco Aurelio de Mello

“The lack of an appropriate institutional model contributes to this physical and psychological torture, causing harm (sometimes irreparable) to the lives of the women who are affected”  -Justice Gilmar Mendes

“Why punish this woman who is already going through a human tragedy?” -Justice Luis Fux

While it would seem absurd and impossibly cruel to force a woman to carry to term a fetus that is missing part of its brain and therefore has no chance of survival, this is in fact the practice in Brazil today. All, of course, in the name of stopping abortions.

Severina, a poor woman from the Brazilian Northeast state of Pernambuco, endured this charade in 2004. At the time, the ADPF 54 case had recently been filed in the Brazilian Supreme Court by Anis – the Brazilian Institute of Bioethics, Human Rights and Gender – and by the Brazilian Confederation of Health Workers, a trade union. Moved by the facts presented to him, then Chief Justice Marco Aurélio Mello issued a preliminary injunction to allow terminations of anencephalic pregnancies until the matter wound its way through the Court. The full Court, however, soon reversed that order.

Severina, who had been told she would not have to carry to term a pregnancy with a fatally compromised fetus, was instead sent home. Her distressing story is featured in the documentary Uma História Severina. She is only one of many such cases. Commenting on his vote to ban these abortions, Justice Cézar Peluzo stated that “suffering does not necessarily affect human dignity, and at times can elevate a person.” Watch the video and decide for yourself.

What are the prospects that the Court will finally end this inhuman practice? They would seem reasonably good, although the same Cézar Peluzo is currently the Chief Justice of the Court for a few more weeks. Severina herself will attend the hearing, and the brave Anis team, which has filed an amicus brief in the case, will stand with her. Yet conservative religious forces are mobilizing. They have, for example, successfully put pressure on the Brazilian government of Dilma Rousseff in recent weeks, notably to censor an anti-HIV media campaign targeting gay men, which was planned for Carnival. Whether the modern, new Brazil or a retrograde “anti-woman” Brazil will prevail, remains uncertain.

Those of us living in the United States might have thought, even a year ago, that this kind of grotesque scenario could only happen elsewhere. The events of this past year, as numerous invasive abortion restrictions have passed in one State legislature after the other, give us pause. Suddenly, the distance from vaginal probes to being forced to carry a non-viable pregnancy seems much shorter. On April 11, we will stand in solidarity with all the Severinas of Brazil.

In Argentina, abortion is illegal except where there is a risk to the health or life of the woman, or if the pregnancy is the result of a rape.

The case decided by the Supreme Court involves a 15-year-old girl, from the province of Chubut, who requested the termination of her pregnancy resulting from rape by her stepfather. After going through all the many layers of the local judicial system, she finally did get an abortion. Interestingly, the person who took this case to the Supreme Court was actually an anti-choice activist representing and defending the rights of the girl’s fetus.

Needless to say, the Supreme Court took on the case and this week’s ruling provides guidance for resolving any similar cases in the future. Most importantly, the Court clarifies the constitutional right of accessing safe abortion services where permitted by the law.

As a feminist and activist for women’s human rights, I welcome the decision of this Court. I understand that we still have much to do to in not only monitoring the compliance with this ruling, but also working to ensure that legal, safe and free abortion is guaranteed as a fundamental right.

Edurne Cárdenas, an alumnus of our Advocacy in Practice Training,  has been a long-time partner of IWHC’s ever since working with CLADEM Argentina.

As the world reviews progress on  implementation of the  Program of Action of  the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, women in all our diversity, are mobilizing.  We aim to build political commitment, to overcome financial and legal obstacles, and to transform the weak health systems,  adverse social and economic conditions, violence and discrimination that impede us from accessing the necessary health services and information to make informed decisions about our sexual and reproductive lives.  All over the world, millions of women are demanding justice.  Young women are speaking out, calling for meaningful participation in all areas of public life, for education and jobs, and fulfillment of human rights, including sexual and reproductive rights.

Today, there are 1.8  billion young people between the ages of 10‐24 who do not have access to the comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and sexuality education that they need for a safe and healthy life.  More than 215 million women who are married or living in unions do not want to be pregnant but lack access to modern contraception, and even more lack access to other vital sexual and  reproductive  health  services  and  information. The  prevalence  of  anemia  due  to  poor  nutrition, continuing lack of  safe water and sanitation, and the health impacts of rising global and national inequality place the sexual and reproductive health of girls and women at grave risk.  Too many women and girls continue to face gender inequality, violence, and other violations of human rights.

We will generate political will, sustained action, and accountability for:

• Universal  access  to  quality,  comprehensive,  integrated  sexual  and  reproductive  health services,  counseling,  and  information  for  women  and  adolescent  girls,  with  respect  for their human  rights,  and  with  an  emphasis  on  equity  and  respect  for  diversity. Comprehensive services include: gynecological care, all forms of safe and effective contraception, safe abortion and  post  abortion  care,  maternity  care,  and  prevention,  timely  diagnosis  and  treatment  of sexually  transmitted  infections  including  HIV,  breast  and  reproductive  cancers,  and infertility. Ideally, these should be integrated, one‐stop services tailored to women’s needs throughout the life cycle, with effective referral.
• Programs that empower women, particularly adolescent girls and young women, to know their bodies and to exercise their rights, especially through comprehensive sexuality education.
• Protection and promotion of reproductive rights as human rights, and international adoption of sexual  rights as  human  rights.    Full  recognition  and  implementation,  through  policies and programs, of existing and emerging legal standards are urgently needed.
• Young  women’s leadership at  all  levels  and  types  of  decision‐making  on  sexual  and reproductive  rights  and  health,  and  the  meaningful  participation  of  women’s  organizations  in the design of health and development programs