This past year, the sexual and reproductive health agency of the UN, known as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has devoted particular attention to providing accessible family planning and preventing maternal deaths and gender-based violence on a global scale. The UNFPA will now be opening an office in Geneva to further strengthen its global humanitarianism protocol during times of natural disaster and armed conflict, as many reproductive health issues are exacerbated amidst these crises (see link regarding gender disaster data). A hallmark of the UNFPA response to such adverse events are “female dignity kits,” devised to address the multitude of barriers to care faced by women in developing countries which are not immediately apparent to the homogeneous body of male humanitarian responders. These dignity kits include sanitary napkins, soap, underwear, and other toiletries. The new Geneva office will coordinate the efficient delivery of these kits and streamline all facets of the UNFPA’s humanitarian operations.
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A state with a long history of supporting abortion rights, Oregon will have a constitutional amendment to limit state funding for abortions on the ballot this November. After narrowly gaining enough signatures to head to the ballot in late July, Measure 106 has inspired intense activism on both sides of the issue. Oregon is one of seventeen states that uses its own funds to provide abortions; the federal government prohibits the use of Medicaid funding. If Measure 106 passes, the state would only be able to fund abortion in cases necessary for the safety of the mother — as in ectopic pregnancies — or in situations of incest or rape. Although the Oregon Health Plan paid $2 million for abortions for 3,600 women in the last year, the official cost analysis of Measure 106 states that passage of the initiative could cost the state an additional $10 million each year. An estimated 271,833 women of reproductive age are covered by the Oregon...
A recent Canadian study points to a new benefit of breastfeeding in opposed to breast milk in a bottle or formula. Breastfeeding is linked to a smaller risk for obesity of babies as they have lower BMIs and gain weight more slowly. Having a high BMI early on in life can be linked to being overweight down the road; therefore, it is important to maintain a healthy BMI beginning as an infant. The CDC’s latest report stated that 1 in every 5 children in the United States are obese and this new research could truly impact efforts to changing this statistic. Some other benefits to breastfeeding include reduced risks of asthma, ear and respiratory infection, and type 2 diabetes. The World Health Organization promotes women to exclusively breastfeed until the child is 6 months of age. However, in the United States women may struggle to the time commitment of breastfeeding. Dr Alison Volpe Holmes notes, "the United States is a...
September 21st and 22nd will mark the first-ever meeting of female foreign ministers, and hopefully, a leap forward in terms of feminist foreign policy. Feminist foreign policy, a term coined by Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Walstrom, is defined as “standing against the systematic and global subordination of women” as a means to facilitate foreign development and security. Canada, in accordance with its pledge to bring women’s issues to the forefront of its political narrative, will host this summit, which includes representatives from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Australia. There has been substantial resistance to such a gathering, as popular culture often assigns a stigma to any initiative bearing the “feminist” label. However, this backlash, in addition to the frightening devolution of global reproductive rights under the Trump administration begs the need for consensus and concrete action regarding feminist foreign policy and urges on this ambitious group of women.
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The Philippines announced Wednesday that it will be participating in the upcoming World Contraception Day on September 26th. In its first year joining the global campaign, the country will hold a forum at the University of the Philippines in Diliman to discuss the nation's treatment of reproductive health issues. With one of the world's fastest rates of population growth and a population that has tripled over the last fifty years, the Philippines faces a growing need of family-planning education; widespread awareness of safe and effective contraception methods may slow unsustainable population growth, with positive effects on public health, the economy and the environment. World Contraception Day is an international campaign, with the mission to educate younger generations about contraception so they can make informed decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. The Day is organized by a group of 17 international NGOs, governmental organizations, and medical societies, and is funded by Bayer AG. Held yearly since 2007, World Contraception Day envisions...
Article by Kayla Chee Despite the fact that maternal mortality dropped 44% between 1990 and 2015, maternal health mortality is still a problem our world faces today, with 99% of maternal deaths occurring in developing countries. A study performed by Homer, CS, Friberg, IK, Dias, MA et al in 2014 found that 83% of all maternal deaths, newborn deaths, and stillbirths could be averted through midwifery care and family planning, indicating the dire importance of midwifery services. To support midwifery programs and the fight against maternal health, The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, has coordinated with over 40 global partners and over 300 national partners to improve access to quality midwifery education, training, and services. Since 2009, the UNFPA has worked in 120 countries, helped train over 105,000 midwives, and supported bachelor’s and master’s programs for midwives in 15 countries. UNFPA’s collaboration with national governments to ensure midwifery autonomy has prompted...
Article by Jessica Williams Planned Parenthood announced on September 12th that Dr. Leana Wen will become the organization’s next president. After current president Cecile Richards announced her resignation, Planned Parenthood organized a search committee in early February to find her replacement. Months later, Dr. Wen was selected to be her successor due to her extensive experience in the healthcare sector; she has been Baltimore's health commissioner since 2015, and is only the second doctor in the organization's 102-year history to take its leading role. Born in Shanghai, Dr. Wen immigrated to the United States with her family shortly before her eighth birthday. They were granted political asylum, and became U.S. citizens in 2003. While growing up in a low-income area in California, Dr. Wen relied on Planned Parenthood for healthcare. She later volunteered for a Planned Parenthood clinic during medical school in St. Louis. Dr. Wen's appointment comes at a critical time for Planned Parenthood. A target of Republican-led Washington over the past...
Article by Carly Jones Following the Trump administration’s reinstallment of the “global gag rule” in January 2017, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) within the sexual and reproductive health and rights sector have been forced to choose between United States and Swedish aid. With this gag rule, foreign NGOs are only able to access U.S aid if they do not perform or promote abortion within the context of family planning. Under this umbrella even falls such services as legal advice and counseling. Sweden, a firm critic of the rule and strong advocate of abortion accessibility as imperative to effective health policy, has stated that aid will be discontinued to those compliant with this gag-rule: “We are, of course, very important moneywise but we are even more important, I think, when it comes to setting moral standards around women’s rights.” This polarization of aid has made the work of activists increasingly difficult; while many NGOs stand with Sweden in support of safe abortion, to have...
Article by Emily Woodrow Last week in Texas, federal Judge Ezra prohibited the legality of an abortion law that would have required hospitals, health care facilities, and clinics to bury or cremate fetal remains without consent of the patient. This law was planned to take effect this February as a part of the Senate Bill 8 which passed in July 2017 and was created by anti-abortion politicians. Whole Woman’s Health and other Texas abortion providers filed for a lawsuit against this abortion law on the basis that burial and cremation requirements were a “politically motivated attempt by the state to force abortion providers into closing because only a limited number of vendors would be willing or able to meet the onerous disposal requirements”. Additionally, president of Whole Woman’s Health Amy Hagstrom stated that the law was “designed to shame and stimatize patients and health care providers” in regards to the morality of abortion. Texas has a history of strong abortion regulation...
Article by Carly Jones Access to feminine hygiene products is the cornerstone of a woman’s ability to claim agency over her body. Yet, with the feminine hygiene product market generating billions of dollars in revenue, these products are often made inaccessible by their price. This disparity in access is especially profound within low- and middle-income countries, such as Kenya, begging the need for Megan White Mukuria’s non-profit foundation, ZanaAfrica. In Kenya, 60% of girls are unable to access menstrual products. As a result, they are forced to endanger both their physical health and security, resorting to fashioning homemade products from rags, or even exchanging sex for sanitary napkins. Additionally, because of the shame associated with menstruation within Kenya’s culture, girls often remain confined to their homes throughout their cycles, with 60% of this demographic eventually dropping out of high school. ZanaAfrica not only addresses this physical need, supplying menstrual products to marginalized girls, but also provides community resources necessary to educate...
