By HowMany.org Today, almost everywhere we turn, we are inundated with negativity about the state of our world. There is climate chaos, economic uncertainty, terrorism, inequality, environmental degradation, overcrowding, poverty; the list goes on and on. It can be overwhelming to think about global issues and global problems. However, they can’t be ignored, or if
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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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By Suzanne York, howmany.org Moral outrage has been expressed around the world over the shooting of Malala Yousufzai, a Pakistani teenage advocate for girls education. The fourteen-year-old was shot in the head when Taliban fighters boarded her school bus, severely injuring her and another student. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the “…attack reminds
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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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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org World Contraception Day is September 26th. There are numerous reasons why this day should be celebrated and awareness raised on using contraceptives. Contraception makes it possible for couples to enjoy the pleasures of intimacy without the consequences of pregnancy. Fully 61 percent of all couples in the world today are having
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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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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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Good news on women and healthcare, on August 1st, the contraception coverage provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) took effect, which requires employers and insurers to offer “free” (without a co-pay) contraceptive coverage, along with access to other preventive health care services, to those women with health insurance policies. (Jodi Jacobson of RH Reality
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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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By Suzanne York, HowMany.org Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in rain-soaked Rio on the third day of the UN Rio+20 Earth Summit and announced to conference delegates  that “women must be empowered to make decisions on whether and when to have children” if the world is to attain agreed-upon
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