Flexible funding to advance universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender equality
In support of the Generation Equality Forum, which culminates with convenings in Paris and over 100 virtual events between June 30 and July 2, PAI announced today a total monetary commitment of $27 million over the next five years. This commitment advances advocacy for policy and program changes and supports the global movement to achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), which are central to gender equality.
Our commitment of strategic, technical and financial resources means that partners around the world will have the support they need to see lasting progress on gender equality. No less than one-third of PAI’s financial support will be directed to civil society organizations led by women, youth and LGBTQI+ individuals. Recognizing the outsized role of donor governments in the health policy and funding landscape, our commitment also includes $2.5 million for U.S. government advocacy.
“Achieving SRHR is central to gender equality, and gender equality is the bedrock of economic empowerment and poverty alleviation,” said Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, president and CEO of PAI. “PAI’s commitments are guided by our trust in local communities and dedication to being responsive. Just as flexible funding from PAI donors enables us to drive high-impact advocacy and knowledge sharing at U.S. and global levels, we believe that flexible funding to our partners enables them to be responsive and agile in promoting, protecting and preserving SRHR.”
In addition to financial commitments, PAI has announced the following programmatic commitments:
- Supporting a vibrant SRHR civil society movement: Achieving SRHR is central to gender equality and requires a strong, vibrant and representative civil society to influence funding and policy decisions and hold governments accountable. Over the next five years, PAI will provide unparalleled strategic and technical support, matched with flexible funding, to civil society organizations that are advancing SRHR and gender equality. No less than 30% of PAI’s financial, strategic and technical support will be directed to civil society organizations led by women, youth and LGBTQI+ individuals.
- Advancing evidence for responsive U.S. government and global policies, protocols and funding: PAI will increase its advocacy efforts to strengthen SRHR and gender equality interventions in U.S. government foreign policy and funding. In addition, PAI will bring forward evidence and insights to inform SRHR global policy and guidance to ensure global actions are responsive to local needs.
- Enabling donors and governments to deliver on their Generation Equality Forum commitments: PAI will establish a global accountability mechanism with our network of 96-funded partners across 33 countries for donors and governments to stay on track with their Generation Equality Forum commitments. The global accountability mechanism will also monitor progress, provide strategic and technical support and establish civil society convening opportunities to enable governments and donors to deliver on their promises.
“PAI knows that when we don’t invest in achieving SRHR, gender equality is out of reach,” says Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, PAI’s vice president of policy and advocacy. “The Generation Equality Forum is an urgent reminder that ensuring bodily autonomy, access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and freedom from violence and stigma are essential to achieving health equity and human rights for all.”
The Generation Equality Forum is a global movement for gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, and brings together governments, corporations, nongovernmental organizations, youth-led groups and foundations to secure concrete, ambitious and transformative commitments for gender equality.
In addition to driving an urgent advocacy agenda externally, PAI will continue to redress equity and power dynamics within and across its work to ensure that staff, peers and colleagues across the globe are supported without bias or coercion in the quest for gender equality, bodily autonomy and SRHR.
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington, D.C., and our network of partners around the world to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For 56 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
PAI is proud to support the aspirations of the Generation Equality Forum as a Commitment Maker. We submit our five-year commitments to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for women, youth and all vulnerable communities through strategic and technical advocacy support; flexible and long-term subgrants; and a guarantee to hold ourselves and all Commitment Makers accountable.
SRHR are the bedrock of gender equality, which is fundamental to poverty alleviation and progress and prosperity for all. PAI’s commitments are made through the lenses of equity, flexibility and inclusiveness and embrace the power of collective action to achieve gender equality in our lifetime. We commit to:
- Supporting a vibrant SRHR civil society movement: Achieving SRHR is central to gender equality and requires a strong, vibrant and representative civil society to influence funding and policy decisions and hold governments accountable. Over the next five years, PAI will provide unparalleled strategic and technical support, matched with flexible funding, to civil society organizations that are advancing SRHR and gender equality. No less than 30% of our financial, strategic and technical support will be directed to civil society organizations led by women, youth and LGBTQI+ individuals.
- Advancing evidence for responsive U.S. government and global policies, protocols and funding: We will increase our advocacy efforts to strengthen SRHR and gender equality interventions in U.S. government foreign policy and funding. In addition, we will bring forward evidence and insights to inform SRHR global policy and guidance to ensure global actions are responsive to local needs.
- Enabling donors and governments to deliver on their Generation Equality Forum commitments: We will establish a global accountability mechanism with our network of 96-funded partners across 33 countries for donors and governments to stay on track with their Generation Equality Forum commitments. The global accountability mechanism will also monitor progress, provide strategic and technical support and establish civil society convening opportunities to enable governments and donors to deliver on their promises.
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington, D.C., and our network of partners around the world to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For 56 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
We welcome the decision by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to declare the North Carolina law banning abortions after 20 weeks to be unconstitutional. This important conclusion comes one month after the Supreme Court agreed to review a challenge to Mississippi’s restrictive abortion law banning almost all abortions after 15 weeks. At PAI, we believe everyone, especially women and girls, should have access to the quality reproductive health care they want and need, regardless of where they live. For decades, anti-choice laws, like in North Carolina and Mississippi, have escalated abortion stigma and fueled reproductive health opponents in the United States and abroad — transcending borders and influencing anti-abortion sentiment around the world. The decision today brings hope to the brave reproductive rights advocates who are fighting to change abortion laws in their own countries.
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington, D.C. and our network of partners around the world to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For 56 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
Kwanzaa stamp artist creates original painting to support PAI’s global advocacy for women, youth and vulnerable communities
Today, PAI announced a new partnership with celebrated and award-winning artist, Synthia SAINT JAMES. The collaboration leverages original artwork created by Ms. SAINT JAMES to increase support for PAI’s global efforts to achieve sexual and reproductive health and rights for all and tackle root causes perpetuating inequities in access to quality health care, services and support.
Ms. SAINT JAMES is a world-renowned multicultural visual artist, award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, whose art has graced the covers of over 75 books. She is highly celebrated for designing the first Kwanzaa stamp for the United States Postal Service in 1997. Her second design was released in 2016 — a “forever” Kwanzaa stamp. SAINT JAMES is the recipient of more than two dozen awards, including the prestigious Trumpet Award, an honorary doctorate degree from Saint Augustine’s University and a History Maker Award. She is also noted for the international cover art of Terry McMillan’s book “Waiting to Exhale.” With roots in Los Angeles, CA and the Bronx, NY, and of African American, Cherokee and Haitian heritage, she currently resides in Los Angeles.
“We are honored that Synthia SAINT JAMES is putting her art and voice behind PAI’s ambitious agenda to advance gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights for women, youth and communities that have faced discrimination and disinvestment here and abroad,” said PAI President and CEO Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins. “PAI’s partnership with Ms. SAINT JAMES is a powerful representation of how the intersection of art and advocacy can drive activism, lift up voices for change and propel a movement for the fundamental right to sexual and reproductive health for all.”
The creative arts have historically been an important driver for social change and justice. With SAINT JAMES’ creations, unity, diversity, inclusion, strength and resilience are on bold display. These values are also held by PAI and guide the organization’s work.
“It is such a pleasure to create this artwork for PAI and bring forward a message of strength, justice and progress,” said Synthia SAINT JAMES. “The arts have the power to inspire and bring in many voices, and it is voice that sparks change, sustains progress and builds solidarity. This piece, titled ‘HER Voice for Empowerment,’ will celebrate the journey to achieve sexual and reproductive health and rights that PAI and its partners from around the world have been on for 56 years, and I am proud to be a part of it.”
Ms. SAINT JAMES’ completed artwork will be unveiled as part of a new major fundraising and advocacy campaign kickoff this summer under PAI’s new executive leadership.
“Having Ms. SAINT JAMES support PAI and our funded partners enables us to have new and urgent conversations that are critical for exponential gains toward sexual and reproductive health, human rights and gender equality,” said Kate Duis, PAI’s director of individual giving. “PAI already has an incredibly strong network of supporters and champions, and we are so excited for many more to join us, as they will undoubtedly be inspired by Ms. SAINT JAMES’ colorful vision of love, justice, health and hope.”
For updates, please follow PAI on Facebook (@paiwdc), Twitter (@pai_org) and Instagram (@pai_org).
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About PAI
PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington, D.C. and our network of partners around the world to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For 56 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
About Synthia SAINT JAMES
Synthia SAINT JAMES is a world renowned multicultural visual artist, award winning author and or illustrator of 17 children’s books, and has authored an autobiographical art marketing book, 3 poetry books, a book of affirmations, and a cookbook. She is also popular keynote speaker and architectural designer who has garnered numerous awards over her forty plus year career. SAINT JAMES’ artwork has been included in International Group Exhibitions since 1980 in such countries as Paris, France, Seoul, Korea, Stockholm, Sweden, Quebec, Canada, and Poland. To learn more, visit synthiasaintjames.com.
PAI celebrates today’s U.S. Senate confirmation of Samantha Power as Administrator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Through this pivotal role in the Biden-Harris administration, Power will lead international development and humanitarian efforts. As a former human rights adviser to President Obama and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Power brings with her a wealth of experience and expertise.
Administrator Power’s confirmation could not come at a more critical time as the world confronts challenges associated with climate change, ongoing humanitarian crises and struggles with a pandemic that disproportionately impacts women, as well as Black, Brown and Indigenous communities.
“The nomination and confirmation of Administrator Power signals a new era of U.S. global leadership that is rooted in a commitment to challenge inequality in the pursuit of rights and justice worldwide,” said PAI President and CEO Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins. “At PAI, we recognize the significance of this transformation at USAID and urge Administrator Power to prioritize restoring relationships with the communities most in need of U.S. global health assistance and programs. We are eager to work in partnership with the Biden-Harris administration on a bold approach to increase equity in access to health care services, including sexual and reproductive health care.”
We also look forward to working with Administrator Power to advance democracy and human rights and elevate the importance of civil society. PAI’s work is grounded in the understanding that without a strong, vibrant and representative civil society, it is impossible to reform the financing and governance of country health systems or influence the funding and policy decisions that impact the health needs of a population, in particular, the sexual and reproductive health needs and rights of women and girls.
We stand ready to support Administrator Power as the agency creates bold new strategies in line with the core tenets of the Biden-Harris administration and a vision for global development that is aligned with combatting climate change, achieving the sustainable development goals and promoting health equity.
While working alongside Power and the dedicated career officials at USAID, PAI will continue to advocate for U.S. global health investments and policies that call for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services as essential health care, address the systemic health and social inequities exacerbated by COVID-19 and promote equitable, gender-responsive programming.
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington, D.C. and our network of partners around the world to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For over 55 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
PAI applauds the final resolution that was adopted out of the 54th session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD). The resolution, which has been agreed to after several years of difficult negotiations without an outcome, reinforces the Commission’s important mandate and reaffirms the importance of universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.
Not only does the outcome resolution maintain previously agreed upon language on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, but it also stresses the intersection of COVID-19 and universal health coverage in achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health services. Equally important, the resolution underscores the link between the pandemic, food security and the disproportionate impact of these intertwined issues on the health and safety of women, girls and other marginalized populations.
The adoption of the resolution from this year’s CPD session demonstrates Member States’ commitment to the International Conference on Population and Development agenda and its Programme of Action. We look forward to seeing these commitments implemented at the country level with progressive policies and programs that enhance access to sexual and reproductive health services, strengthen food security and ensure universal health coverage for all.
View the adopted resolution here: https://undocs.org/en/E/CN.9/2021/L.5.
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington, D.C. and our network of partners around the world to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For over 55 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
Seizing the Moment to Advance Advocacy and Civil Society Leadership on Women’s Rights: U.S. Multilateral Engagement and Global Convenings Spur Opportunity for Progress
Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, vice president of policy and advocacy, PAI
The month of March is a time when the world focuses on the contributions women have made to society. The convenings and conversations over the past month served as an opportunity for all nations and sectors to commit to investing in women and prioritizing sexual and reproductive health and rights as central to peace and prosperity.
International Women’s Day (March 8), with its theme “Choose to Challenge,” reminded the global community that while there is progress toward women’s equality, there is still more to be done. As women’s leadership and achievements to date were celebrated, calls for renewed efforts to combat inequality and injustice across all spheres of life — including the fundamental right to health — were loud and clear.
The rights, representation and equity drumbeat continued during the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) from March 15 to 26. With the theme of women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence for achieving gender equality, female leaders stepped forward and raised their voices in unprecedented ways.
The U.S. government was no exception in lifting up this theme of full participation of women in public life. Vice President Kamala Harris, the highest-ranking U.S. female official ever to address the United Nations, delivered remarks at CSW on the centrality of ensuring women’s rights, noting that the status of women is the status of democracy. By doing so, it was clear to leaders around the world that the United States was re-engaging and embracing the potential of all women.
The closing day of CSW consisted of tense negotiations among member states with no broad agreement on new ways to address gender equality. As a result, nations agreed to reaffirm previously agreed-upon language such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as crucial for gender equality and empowerment, root causes of gender inequality and barriers to women’s full and equal participation in public life. The commitments are repetitive from previous years, but at least they were recognized and remain. Among them are ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, including universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services such as family planning, information and education as well as the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programs. In addition, nations recognized that human rights include a woman’s right to have control over and decision-making power on all matters related to her sexuality.
On March 31, the final day of Women’s History Month in the United States, world leaders put forth a vision for bold action in the landmark Generation Equality Forum (GEF), which convened in Mexico City, Mexico from March 29 to 31 and will culminate in Paris, France in June 2021. The GEF comes 25 years after the Fourth World Conference on Women, which launched the Beijing Platform for Action, a comprehensive framework for women’s empowerment and gender equality. The kickoff of the GEF in Mexico concluded with an action coalition blueprint to catalyze commitments for gender equality.
Civil society leaders, donors, private sector partners and bilateral and multilateral agencies came together to chart a course forward where impact toward women’s equality can be accelerated, and investment commitments toward sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality and prevention of gender-based violence are required. The GEF created a timely platform for a movement to realize a feminist agenda, informed by women and funded by feminist philanthropy, that supports the overarching development goals of a nation.
The collaborative global conversations over the past month create new momentum for systemic changes necessary to guarantee equity and justice. They also illustrate where bolder national commitments are required and the advocacy needed to achieve such commitments in language and action. The work and impact of PAI and our 96 partners across 33 countries are aligned not only to this moment, but also the future that the world is counting on.
PAI’s mission toward sexual and reproductive health and rights is defined by the voice and leadership of women, civil society partners and local communities. In prioritizing universal access to sexual and reproductive health as central to human rights, our work is grounded in challenging the systems, norms and laws that are shaped by paternalism and are harmful to the health, well-being and progress of women. The commitments from a month of bold leadership and perspective require amplifying evidence and data, taking a whole-of-government approach for scaled impact and investing in the kind of advocacy that propels accountability, collaboration and policy and program impact.
PAI is at the forefront of leading ambitious advancements on gender equality and sexual and reproductive health at home and abroad. As the convenings and conversations continue, we know that our work is urgent. We stand steadfast with our partners around the world on seizing this moment of renewed energy to remove roadblocks and barriers that exist between women and their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington, D.C. and our network of partners around the world to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For over 55 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
Today, President Biden signed a presidential memorandum to rescind the Global Gag Rule. By doing so, the Biden-Harris administration has taken a first step in demonstrating to our nation and the global community that it stands by and prioritizes health equity, inclusion and justice for all.
A destructive and overreaching U.S. health policy enforced and relentlessly expanded by the Trump administration, the Global Gag Rule was imposed on January 23, 2017. President Trump unleashed four years of stigma and discrimination against providers of comprehensive health services, weakened health systems, severed referral networks and closed off care for women, young people, LGBT+ individuals and other groups most affected by health inequities.
The Global Gag Rule has put health and lives around the world at risk by forcing non-U.S. NGOs to choose between receiving U.S. global health assistance and providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care, including information, referrals or services for legal abortion or to advocate for the legalization of abortion in their country with their own, non-U.S. funds.
This rescission of the Global Gag Rule is a long-awaited, crucial action given the urgency to prevent the known and wide-ranging effects of the policy, some of which can never be undone. Far too many communities suffered the closure of health clinics, and individuals were cut off from essential care and treatment or experienced unintended pregnancies or unsafe abortion as a result of the policy.
PAI documented the extensive harm of the expanded Global Gag Rule in countries across Africa and Asia, which includes diminishing access to contraception, cervical cancer screenings, abortion, sexually transmitted infection treatments and other critical services. The effects of censorship and U.S. policy overruling the laws of sovereign nations and aspirations of sovereign people have destabilized health progress and undermined global health initiatives — including those that have benefited from decades of U.S. investments, such as efforts to ensure countries can respond to global health emergencies by building and investing in robust, country-led and country-driven health systems.
“President Biden’s rescission of the Global Gag Rule is a powerful and hopeful step toward progress and the right for all people to have the autonomy to make health decisions for themselves and their families,” says Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, PAI president and CEO.
“PAI stands ready to partner with the Biden-Harris administration, civil society, local governments and global leaders on the work ahead to rebuild from the damage done to sexual and reproductive health and rights. We also will work alongside champions of health and human rights in the U.S. Congress to permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule. We must ensure that communities across our nation and around the world can exercise their right to sexual and reproductive health, which is fundamental to progress.”
The legacy of the Global Gag Rule is the curtailing of human rights, fracturing of health systems and shackling of national responses to communities in the wake of emergencies like COVID-19. The impact has been felt in acute ways, with life-altering and life-threatening consequences for women, youth and vulnerable communities.
President Biden’s presidential memorandum also allows critical funds for reproductive and maternal health services and gender-based violence programs to begin flowing to UNFPA again, disavows the anti-choice and anti-LGBT+ Geneva Consensus Declaration led by the Trump administration and begins the process to rescind the Domestic Gag Rule. These actions are critical steps in addressing the damage done to sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world and at home over the past over years, yet it is just the beginning of the work to be done.
In embarking upon this new chapter, PAI will continue its efforts to prevent a recurrence of disparities, exclusion, illness and death generated by U.S. foreign policy through evidence, advocacy and partnership. With the goal of lasting resilience despite U.S. political swings, PAI-supported NGOs have built momentum and local support for policies and funding to advance country-owned, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health programs. PAI also calls on Congress to seize this opportunity to pass the Global HER Act, reintroduced today by Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski and Representatives Barbara Lee, Jan Schakowsky and Ami Bera, to prevent future reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule and protect communities from future attacks on their right to sexual and reproductive health services.
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington and our network of partners in developing countries to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For over 50 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
PAI is proud to introduce Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins as our new president and chief executive officer. A seasoned leader with a track record of building multisectoral coalitions, catalytic partnerships and integrated global health advocacy campaigns, Nabeeha brings extensive experience to the role.
She is the founder and former president and CEO of Humanitas Global, an international development organization that creates sustainable initiatives to drive health, social and economic progress in under-resourced communities across the globe. At Humanitas, Nabeeha designed and directed advocacy initiatives for women and adolescents in collaboration with U.N. agencies, academic centers, national governments and public and private institutions. These programs consistently demonstrated greater income, education, nutrition and maternal and child survival gains when women had access to sexual and reproductive health information, services and support.
Nabeeha currently serves as vice president of programs at nonprofit organization KABOOM!, directing large-scale organizational initiatives to propel the movement for playspace equity to address racial and economic inequities in access to recreation and play. Nabeeha began her career at FleishmanHillard, a leading global public relations firm, where she served as one of the firm’s youngest partners. She directed a range of health and social justice portfolios including reproductive and sexual health campaigns and infectious disease education and prevention programs for health departments, foundations and corporate partners.
She deepened her programmatic public health experience working for the Clinton Foundation, where she led the development of national HIV/AIDS plans and supported health systems strengthening to deliver HIV/AIDS care, testing and treatment in Caribbean and sub-Saharan African countries.
“With its 55-year history, PAI is known across the globe as an organization that builds strong and collaborative partnerships to protect the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women, girls and other vulnerable groups,” Nabeeha says.
“I am honored and excited to work alongside the extraordinary PAI team and more than 80 international grantees, who are steadfast in standing up for the fundamental right to access sexual and reproductive health services and support.”
The CEO selection process was led by a subset of the PAI board with input and candidate review provided by the leadership team and a cross section of PAI staff.
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Nabeeha,” says Kim Brooks, board chair and chair of the CEO search committee. “She has an entrepreneurial spirit, operational savvy and passion for gender issues. Her experience working on some of the world’s most urgent development challenges and advocating for communities that have faced disinvestment and injustice means she brings an eye for inclusion and a share of voice that is essential at this moment and for PAI’s future. She is an exceptional, visionary leader, and will inject fresh perspectives into the reproductive health and rights landscape.”
Nabeeha, who was born in Pakistan and raised in Mexico, speaks English, Hindi, Spanish and Urdu fluently, and has worked on community programs in more than 20 countries. Nabeeha holds bachelor’s degrees in political Science and journalism and mass communications from Kansas State University and dual master’s degrees in international affairs and public health from Columbia University. She resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Coleman, and their two young children. She starts her role with PAI in late January of 2021.
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington, D.C. and our network of partners around the world to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For over 55 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act would repeal the Helms Amendment, which bars U.S. foreign assistance funding for abortion, expanding abortion access globally.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a Senior Chief Deputy Whip and Chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus Providers and Clinics Task Force, today introduced the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act. The Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act is the first-ever legislation to repeal the Helms Amendment, a 47-year-old policy rooted in racism that bans the use of any U.S. foreign assistance funds for abortion, putting an arbitrary line between abortion and all other global health services. Reps. Nita Lowey (D-NY), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Norma Torres (D-CA) signed on as original co-sponsors.
Rep. Schakowsky announced the new legislation on a virtual press conference with reporters on Wednesday morning, discussing the Helms Amendment’s harmful history, its burden on global reproductive and economic freedom, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to reproductive health care around the world. Joining her on the call were Dr. Ernest Nyamato, a Kenyan doctor and Quality of Care global team lead at Ipas, an international reproductive health and human rights organization, and former director of the Ipas Africa Alliance in Kenya; and Lienna Feleke-Eshete, public policy associate at CHANGE, a U.S. nongovernmental organization that advocates for sexual and reproductive health and rights for women and girls and others who face stigma and discrimination.
As the United States grapples with racism and barriers to racial justice, the Helms Amendment is yet another example of a systemic policy that has become commonplace in society.
“The Helms Amendment is a policy deeply rooted in racism. It imposes our arbitrary and medically unnecessary abortion restrictions on international communities, allowing the United States to control the health care and bodily autonomy of billions Black and brown people around the world. Just like the Hyde Amendment, the Helms Amendment puts reproductive and economic freedom out of reach for women of color. But enough is enough, and both amendments must fall if we want to realize true health equity and reproductive justice,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. “I am proud that my sisters, Representatives Lowey, Lee, Speier, Pressley, DeGette, and Torres, are joining me to introduce the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act of 2020, which will finally repeal the Helms Amendment. Comprehensive reproductive health care, including safe, legal, and accessible abortion, is a human right.”
Dr. Nyamato explained how the Helms Amendment puts reproductive and economic freedom out of reach for millions around the world, including in Kenya and other African nations. He also discussed the impact of the restrictions on Kenyans who may already have limited access to critical health care services, noting the disconnect between the Helms Amendment and the needs of communities receiving U.S. foreign aid.
“While U.S. foreign aid has been critical for communities across Kenya, restricting funds for abortion has been harmful to the health and autonomy of people across the country. Because of these restrictions, too often, an unsafe abortion from someone without training becomes the only option,” said Dr. Ernest Nyamato, a Kenyan doctor and Ipas quality of care lead. “As someone who has worked in multiple roles in health and human rights, I see just how critical comprehensive health care, including abortion is, for people, their families, and their communities. Unfortunately, we are already seeing health inequities grow due to COVID-19 and people using the crisis to try to eliminate abortion access. Global support must help prioritize health care, not perpetuate barriers that make it harder for people to get the health care they need.”
Health systems worldwide are already overwhelmed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a reduction in access to sexual and reproductive health care in many countries, despite the fact that abortion care is time sensitive. The Helms Amendment is poised to further exacerbate these disparities and put critical health care out of reach for millions across the globe. “Having lived through other health crises, I know that women and girls often suffer disproportionately. COVID-19 has devastated many of the communities where I work, and now is not the time to further limit people’s options,” said Monica Oguttu, an international women’s rights advocate, Kenyan midwife with decades of experience, founder of Kisumu Medical and Education Trust in Kenya, and an Ipas board member. “My patients can’t afford more red tape right now, and I ask that the U.S. government help, not harm Kenyan people.”
“For more than four decades, the Helms Amendment has perpetuated and exacerbated health inequities around the world and compromised the effectiveness of the U.S.’ global health investments. Along with the Global Gag Rule, funding restrictions that impede access to essential health care—including abortion—and prevent individuals from exercising their rights have no place in U.S. foreign policy. The repeal of the Helms Amendment is long overdue and we thank our Congressional leaders for clearing a path toward safe, legal and accessible abortion everywhere.”
– Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, interim co-CEO, PAI
Enacted in 1973, the Helms Amendment is housed in the Foreign Assistance Act and has been passed as part of Congressional appropriations bills every year for nearly five decades. The legislation was introduced by then Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), who was known for his anti-rights, racist efforts throughout his career. The amendment is related to, but distinct from, the Global Gag Rule (also known as the ‘Mexico City policy’), an executive order that prohibits foreign organizations that receive U.S. global health assistance from using non-U.S. funding to provide abortion services, information, counseling or referrals and from engaging in advocacy to expand abortion access. Both policies are discriminatory and deeply unjust.
While this is the first introduction of a repeal bill, a broad coalition of global reproductive health and rights advocacy, research, and service delivery organizations has been working to mitigate and address the harms caused by Helms for years. Coalition members include Advocates for Youth, American Jewish World Service, Catholics for Choice, Center for Reproductive Rights, CHANGE (Center for Health and Gender Equity), Guttmacher, International Center for Research on Women, Ipas, International Women’s Health Coalition, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Open Society Policy Center, PAI, Population Connection Action Fund, Population Institute, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Additionally, the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act is endorsed by more than 115 organizations and quotes from several groups can be found below for inclusion in media coverage. More information can be found at repealhelms.org.
PAI resources on the Helms Amendment
Time Is Up for the Helms Amendment
Helms Amendment and the Global Gag Rule — What’s the Difference?
The Ins and Outs of U.S. Abortion-related Restrictions Abroad and at Home
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington and our network of partners in developing countries to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For over 50 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
Elisha Dunn-Georgiou and Carolyn Gibb Vogel, PAI interim co-CEOs, released the following statement:
PAI stands in solidarity with protesters and advocates fighting for long-overdue justice against systemic racism, white supremacy and police brutality against communities of color in the United States. The violent killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor are sadly only the most recent examples of the disregard for black lives in this country. It’s impossible to continue seeing these deaths as isolated incidents and instead we must recognize them for what they are — symbols of a larger system of institutionalized racism that has not only taken these three lives, but perpetuates inequities for black and brown people on a daily basis.
As an organization working to elevate the rights of individuals and communities across the globe, it is our moral duty to call out injustices here at home.
It is our obligation to ensure that the pain we’re feeling — the pain our friends, families and colleagues of color have felt for far too long — leads to meaningful and lasting change. In this moment, we stand with those working to channel the grief and outrage generated by yet another senseless death into real progress. We are committed to this cause.
Black lives matter.
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington and our network of partners in developing countries to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For over 50 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.
On Wednesday, PAI submitted testimony into the record for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing titled “Unique Challenges Women Face in Global Health,” detailing deeply harmful impacts to providers, health systems and communities documented since the policy’s imposition of the Global Gag Rule.
Read PAI’s testimony here.
“The reinstatement and expansion of the Global Gag Rule demonstrates how repressive political decisions from other countries can affect population health and wellbeing in countries like Uganda. The Global Gag Rule wreaked havoc by cutting off funding for much-needed health services, especially amongst communities that are already underserved,” said Moses Mulumba, Executive Director, Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) in his hearing testimony. “It is not an easy choice to comply and keep the funding or refuse and lose access to those resources: jobs and indeed lives are on the line. Nevertheless, CEHURD cannot work on one area of health and not others, or prioritize some human rights and not others. This would compromise our values as an institution.”
“It would be senseless to examine the global health challenges women face without acknowledgment of the harm levied by the Trump administration via the Global Gag Rule,” said Jonathan Rucks, PAI Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy.
“As we have heard firsthand from organizations impacted including partners like CEHURD, the policy exacerbates existing barriers to services and suppresses efforts of local champions working on solutions—which will undoubtedly lead to worse outcomes for women and girls. If members of Congress truly care about the health and lives of women and vulnerable groups, they will pass the Global HER Act to permanently repeal this overreaching policy.”
The day of the hearing, more than 41 organizations issued a statement calling on Congress to permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule by passing the Global HER Act.
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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington and our network of partners in developing countries to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For over 50 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai.org.