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Family Planning and Maternal Child Health: How Obama Compares to Bush
Obama on family planning and international health
Today, Scientific American’s EarthTalk answers the question of whether the Obama administration has brought back support for family planning and international maternal/infant health after George Bush’s cuts and fund-slashing.
In particular, Bush withheld $244 million from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which works with developing countries to “reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.”
The other Bush policy: the “Global Gag Rule”, which prohibited groups funded by the U.S. Agency in International Development from using any government or non-government funds to provide information or counseling on abortion.
Here’s how things have changed under Obama:
Obama reinstated the funding to UNFPA, toward their goal of “closing of the gender gap in education, reducing maternal and infant mortality, increasing life expectancy and decreasing HIV infection rates.”
And he overturned the gag rule. As always, foreign nonprofits are not allowed to use U.S. funds to actually pay for abortions, but the gag rule said that they are also not allowed to talk about the option at all or provide any counseling or information on abortion. Now they are able to once again.
Sounds like we’re back on track — supporting maternal child health and access to education and family planning information. Health officials do want more, though — the Institutes of Medicine recommended a 50 percent increase in spending on global health (Obama pledged $63 million over the next 6 years).
Do you think Obama is doing a better job with international health and family planning?
Image: flickr
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