Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kiran Glass
Mr. Grossman
5.7.18
Nineteen year-old Maheshwori lives in Nepal without money, food or work and had her
second child in a cowshed under horrible conditions. Before giving birth she said, “I am very,
very scared about my pregnancy. Everyone has been asking about it, which makes me even more
scared” (Gates Foundation). No woman should be scared about getting pregnant and raising a
child but sadly complications during pregnancy and childbirth in developing countries cause
303,000 deaths every year (KFF). The solution to addressing maternal mortality is one of the
many benefits of family planning. Supriya Madhavan, a former USAID employee specializing in
global family planning and reproductive health, describes family planning as “...a woman’s right
to plan her family and her right to achieve her fertility desires in a voluntary, safe and informed
way.” Family planning, in the form of development aid, includes resources for safe abortions,
contraceptives, family planning counseling, maternal care, ante and postnatal care, HIV/AIDS,
labor and delivery and child care services. Family planning and maternal health in the
developing world are critical for managing population growth, ensuring women’s access to
education and promoting prosperous economic development. Congress must continue to provide
sufficient funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to
continue its mission to provide development aid specifically for family planning and maternal
health abroad.
The current administration is not supportive of providing funding for abortion services or
any discussion related to abortion - known as the Gag Rule - because of domestic policies and,
therefore, has cut funding for organizations who provide them. Madhavan describes how “There
is a shortage of money in the health sector in the US and abroad including primary and pediatric
care and maternal health.” The government should continue to fund family planning even if
some programs include abortion related services because access to contraception can prevent up
to 35 million abortions and 76,000 maternal deaths every year (UNFPA). Since the International
Conference on Population and Development in 1994, “access to safe and voluntary family
planning methods has been recognized as a fundamental human right” (ICRW). A study done by
the National Center for Biotechnology Information underscores the importance of expanding
family planning services because “more than 900 million women are estimated to still face
unmet needs for contraception globally, and the potential improvements in child physical growth
... provide further evidence in support of expansion of family planning services” (Fink).
Worldwide, 214 million women do not have access to modern contraceptives causing many
unintended and high risk pregnancies (KFF). Congress needs to allocate more money to USAID
For the 2018 fiscal year, USAID requested 1.5 billion dollars to be allocated towards
Global Health Programs including funds for maternal and child health (USAID). For the past 50
years, the US has been the largest contributor to family planning and reproductive health funding
globally but in recent years this support has declined as a result of a national debate on the value
of US support for family planning worldwide, and specifically initiatives that include access to
abortion related information and services (USAID). Many view the availability of family
planning resources as another from of population control especially when targeted at developing
countries causing resistance to the expansion of these programs. There was even a 2018
proposition to cut all funding for global family planning and reproductive health services under
the Trump administration but this was fortunately scaled back. This came after the gag rule was
once again put in place which prevents clinics and services in the developing world to provide
effective services if one of those services is abortion. The US is moving farther and farther away
from being a staunch supporter of women’s reproductive rights as shown in the recent move by
the State Department to remove reproductive rights in the language in the annual human rights
report (Toosi). As stated by Jagdish Upadhyay, head of UNFPA, “Evidence shows that women
who have access to family planning choose to use family planning, often resulting in smaller
families, higher educational achievements, healthier children [and] greater economic power as
well as influence in their households and communities.” The implementation of health services
and provisions has proven to ultimately help with population growth, women’s access to
Stable and consistent access to family planning and reproductive health services is proven
to manage population growth in developing countries, resulting in numerous benefits for those
countries. It also decreases the risk for maternal and child mortality, allowing healthier and more
stable families. As part of its outlined benefits of family planning, USAID states that family
resources and state stability. In recent years, the use of contraceptives in developing countries
has increased so much that the population prediction for 2030 has been reduced by 1 billion and
smaller families are proven to have higher educational achievements and healthier generations
(Ford). Especially for poverty-stricken nations, the curtailing of population growth is essential in
maintaining economic and political stability and strengthening the public health infrastructure.
When there are fewer people to allocate resources to, health resources can be distributed and
used more effectively and result in better overall rates of mortality and public health among a
population (Madhavan). When the population cannot be managed by means of modern family
planning strategies, developing countries will be left with a larger population of unskilled and
Newborn and Child Mortality in Africa, argues that the rapid population growth that is occurring
today in Africa is hindering the continent’s ability to develop and improve infrastructure thus
prompting the need for more family planning services (Olagunju). Additionally, having
unmanageable population size especially in developing countries can contribute to civil unrest
and a refugee crisis. With a heated debate on the refugee quota already gripping the nation, the
threat of more people seeking refuge should be enough motivation to sustain (or possibly even
increase) the budget for family planning. Despite the many benefits that could accompany a
decrease in population growth, some like Madhavan believe that it should be up to the countries
themselves to provide basic family planning services especially when the results are directly
impacting these countries. In other words, they should not be reliant on the funds that they
receive from the US for the basic needs of their people and they should take the lead in providing
Health risks accompany teenage pregnancies and it is proven that family planning
intervention can eliminate those risks. Demographic and Health Survey data shows that the
percentage of stunting could be much lower if teenage pregnancy and short birth intervals could
be prevented both of which could be implemented through effective family planning programs
(Fink). The National Center for Biotechnology Information came to the conclusion that
“Postponing the age of first birth and increasing inter-pregnancy intervals has the potential to
significantly reduce the prevalence of stunting and improve child development in LMICs”
(Fink). According to a report by the US Census Bureau, the rates of children born HIV positive
are a result of infected mothers regardless of age, who have no adequate care and in many cases
did not plan on getting pregnant (PRI Staff). However, there are many, including the Population
Research Institute, who believe that women and children would be more well-off if they had as
much primary health care as so-called “reproductive health care.” PRI published a report in 2009
explicitly explaining how family planning has not helped women as much as it is thought to and
how “‘reproductive health care’ programs have failed to address the real health needs of
developing world women as they themselves perceive them” (Mosher). The overwhelming
evidence, however; supports the argument that put simply, access to family planning helps
countries to manage the size of their populations and, more importantly, ensure the well-being of
More US funding for family planning will also result in improving rates and access of
girls’ education. If women have the chance to delay childbearing, they have the opportunity to
get an education and become productive additions to the workforce (UNFPA). In many
countries, women are forced into marriage and motherhood without their consent, effectively
denying them education and other opportunities for the rest of their lives. A statistic shown by a
study focusing on the benefits of family planning has on child development, states that 37.5% of
mothers who had their first child in their late teen years, never attended any schooling (Fink).
According to the mission of UNFPA, United States Population Fund, family planning increases
women’s empowerment, improves gender equality and enables women to have an education.
More educated women will help the country develop through reductions in poverty. Moreover,
girls could also benefit from improved sex education which would include family planning.
Major organizations besides USAID promote the fact that access to family planning will
ultimately lead to a better educated population and healthier families. ICRW, the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, Kaiser, UNFPA among other agencies, incorporate the necessity and
importance of education in their goals and outcomes of providing family planning services. It is
important to support and fund family planning efforts because it allows women to have a better
access to education resulting in a more productive workforce and a more stable country.
Perhaps the most appealing argument for the US government to continue to fund family
planning is the potential benefits to the US stemming from economic development in developing
countries as a result of women’s access to services. If more developing countries gain economic
stability, trade and national security for the US would be strengthened. Family planning
organizations and development aid agencies are advocates for the cause and effect argument
between family planning and economic development. At the UN Conference in Cairo in 1994, “it
was concluded at that family planning enhances the health of women, this improves any
country’s development - when mothers are healthy, society is far better for it” (Olagunju). When
fewer mothers and children need heightened amounts of medical care and resources as a result of
unsafe or unhealthy conditions, the limited medical services that USAID can provide for people
through other NGOs can go elsewhere. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports the
advantage of family planning for a country’s development. They argue the cost-effectiveness of
providing family planning for investing in their future because “every dollar spent on family
planning can save governments up to 6 dollars that can be spent on improving health, housing,
water, sanitation, and other public services” (Gates Foundation). For the US, funding family
planning has major advantages for the government and the investors. For every $1 invested in
family planning, there is an $8 return increasing the profits for American investors and, if quality
sexual and reproductive services becomes worldwide, the return is estimated at $120 for every
dollar invested (Kohler). Upadhyay states that “many countries, particularly those in West Africa
which have a high unmet need for contraception, could potentially reap the demographic
dividend: a boost to the economy that occurs when there are growing numbers of people in the
workforce relative to the number of dependents.” Through the simple service of providing
contraceptives to impoverished countries, the results can lead to immense economic boost for
through USAID, has been critical to significantly improve the lives of women all around the
world. By providing family planning and maternal health care, population management is
feasible, women have better access to education and the country experiences economic growth.
Contraceptives, safe abortions, proper reproductive health care and investment in child health
decreases maternal, infant and child mortality rates worldwide. These advances have, in turn,
brought about a range of economic, social and political benefits for developing countries. Even
though there are strong voices pushing for Congress to reduce its support for family planning on
the basis that countries themselves should take care of their own people, women should not only
have the chance to plan their families but also have access to proper medical resources to ensure
a safe and healthy pregnancy. Congress must continue to allot sufficient money for USAID to
spend on family planning programs to ensure that deaths related to pregnancy become rare,
women have more freedom to pursue their dreams, population growth is kept in check and
countries are able to enjoy better economic development. The entire world can reap the rewards
that can result from adequate funding for family planning worldwide.