Reproductive Rights/Women’s Rights

Text Messaging and the Link to Family Planning

Nov 14th, 2013 | By
[photo credit: http://www.m4rh.fhi360.org]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The 2013 International Conference on Family Planning is in full swing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, concentrated around the them of “Full Access, Full Choice.” The nearly 4,000 participants are energized around bringing family planning and reproductive rights to communities in need the world over.  Ethiopia, the second most-populous nation in Africa,
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Finally Putting a Gag on the Global Gag Rule?

Jul 18th, 2013 | By
Unknown

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Do you want to do something that will help women around the world?  One big step you can take is to support the Global Democracy Promotion Act (GDPA) – a piece of congressional legislation that calls for permanently ending the global gag rule. What is the Global Gag Rule? The global
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Ending the Shame for Women and Girls: The Effort to End Fistula

May 22nd, 2013 | By
Three young women patients wait to check-in for treatment of fistula in Sudan (photo credit: UN Photo/Fred Noy)

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org This May 23rd will mark the first-ever International Day to End Obstetric Fistula.  This is a treatable condition that sadly afflicts women and girls in developing nations that lack decent maternal care. It is hoped that this problem can finally be dealt with by focusing global attention on it, thereby helping
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Putting Women and Reproductive Rights on the Agenda in California

Jan 24th, 2013 | By
Protect womens health

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Last week, at the Women’s Policy Summit in Sacramento, promoting women’s issues took center stage for a day. An impressive array of California advocates, activists, legislators and others gathered for a conference dedicated to “Advancing Women’s Health, Wealth and Power”. One of the main themes of the day was healthcare –
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2012: A Good Year for Reproductive Rights

Dec 31st, 2012 | By
Fighting to pass the Philippine Reproductive Health Bill

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The end of a year normally leads to reflections on how the preceding 365 days turned out on many different issues.  As  2012 comes to a close, there are reasons to feel confident about how family planning and reproductive rights fared this year. There were three major events that should be
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The Gamble on Global Women’s Rights – The 2012 U.S. Elections

Oct 25th, 2012 | By
voting

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The New York Times recently posted an editorial titled “A World of Harm for Women” that argued that a Mitt Romney presidential win would harm women’s reproductive rights and extend far beyond the borders of the United States.  It would indeed. Romney has pledged to reinstate the Global Gag Rule. This
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The Triple Bottom Line: Investing in Women and Girls

Oct 10th, 2012 | By
New Image

By Suzanne York, HowMany.org One of the biggest returns on investment for people and the planet is supporting the health of women and girls, especially in terms of voluntary family planning services. As we recognize the International Day of the Girl this October 11th, it is a good time to go beyond traditional development ideas
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The Reproductive Rights of Refugees

Sep 5th, 2012 | By
photo:IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation/Turkey
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ihhinsaniyardimvakfi/7003160591/

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org. As the fighting and political crisis in Syria escalates, the number of people fleeing the turmoil also increases. Nearly 130,000 people have fled Syria and taken refuge in neighboring countries since the conflict began. Globally, the UN estimates that for any crisis situation, one in five women of childbearing age is
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End Rape, Don’t Redefine It

Aug 23rd, 2012 | By
photo credit: h.koppdelaney

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org It’s been quite a week for Rep. Todd Akin. He became front-page news after uttering the sentence “If it is a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” What he called “speaking off the cuff” has led to moral outrage from both women
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Post-London: Putting Words into Action on Family Planning

Jul 15th, 2012 | By
Kagame

At last week’s London Summit on Family Planning, a high-level gathering hosted by the Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development, donors pledged to provide $2.6 billion over the next eight years to help the world’s poorest women gain access to contraceptives.  It has been called a “breakthrough for the world’s poorest women
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