Congressional appropriations decisions will affect women's health worldwide

"[E]vidence shows that family planning prevents the needless deaths of women worldwide," which should "be cause to sustain or even increase U.S. investments in these programs," Chloe Cooney, director of global advocacy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), writes in this RH Reality Check blog post. "Yet, once again, the House Appropriations Committee voted to let politics interfere with life-saving health care for women," she continues, adding, "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." Cooney notes that the Senate version of the bill "increases support for international family planning without attaching restrictions that would undercut these efforts." She cites a recent U.N. report that "confirms that birth control and reproductive health services are essential to saving women's lives," and concludes, "The impact of the decisions made by this Congress will be felt in the lives of women and families around the world" (5/22).