News Releases
IPPF/WHR APPLAUDS COLOMBIA COURT DECISION STRIKING DOWN COMPLETE ABORTION BAN New York, NY—Issuing a striking statement of concern for the women of Colombia, that nation’s highest court voted 5-3 to legalize abortion in cases of rape, incest, or if the life of the mother is in danger. “It is about time that the Colombian courts protect the health and well being of Colombian woman,” said Carmen Barroso, Western Hemisphere Regional Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF/WHR). “Study after study has shown that outlawing abortion does not eliminate the procedure; it only drives it underground. Too many women have suffered the lethal consequences of this government ban.” Despite Colombia’s complete ban on abortion, an estimated 400,000 women every year have an abortion and almost 60,000 are hospitalized from injuries resulting from the clandestine procedure. Colombia’s Constitutional Court issued the decision despite intense lobbying from the Catholic Church. According to a 2003 survey, Catholics in Colombia favor abortion when the woman's life is in danger (73%), the woman's health is at risk (65%), in cases of serious physical or mental fetal impairment (61%), or the pregnancy is the result of rape (52%). More than 80% of Colombians consider themselves Catholic. “Times are changing and most every country—regardless of ethnicity, religion or traditions—has come to more and more value the lives of its women,” concluded Dr. Barroso. “This affirmation and expansion of the right to health and choice is representative of a genuine culture of life" The International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) and its 46 member associations are committed to promoting the sexual and reproductive rights of women and men, in particular those most vulnerable and marginalized in society. We provide more than 18 million services a year —from contraceptive counseling and supplies to HIV prevention, testing and treatment— to the neediest people in the region. # # # For more information, please contact: Laura Zaks at 212 248 6400 IPPF/WHR DENOUNCES RESULT OF LOAIZA CASE -- VENEZUELAN COURTS FAIL TO DELIVER JUSTICE AGAIN Perpetrator Accused of Kidnapping, Rape and Torture, Expected to Be Released Soon After Sentencing! New York, NY—Five years after being kidnapped, raped, and tortured over a period of four months, justice has once again been denied to Linda Loaiza of Venezuela. The Seventh Tribunal of Justice in Caracas decided last week that Luis Carrera Almoina, Ms. Loaiza’s assailant, was only guilty of severe assault and deprivation of liberty, despite being accused of attempted homicide, rape and torture. The judge handed down a sentence of only six years imprisonment. There has been rampant speculation that the court may actually set him free as he has already spent four years in custody and would be eligible for parole. The decision will be made final when officially published on March 23. “This verdict is an outrage,” said Carmen Barroso, Western Hemisphere Regional Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF/WHR). “It is an example of the immense difficulty faced by women all over the world when they seek justice in the face of violence and abuse. IPPF/WHR will support Linda as she appeals the decision and continues her quest for closure.” In July of 2001, Ms. Loaiza was rescued by police from Carrera Almoina’s apartment in Caracas. She had been repeatedly raped and tortured; she was found in a state of severe malnutrition, with her earlobes destroyed, a nipple cut out, cigarette burns all over her body, multiple cranial fractures, and bruises and cuts on her face and genital area. “Justice was not served,” Ms. Loaiza declared. “I consider this sentence a mockery. The evidence was so clear. No one who experienced what I did should have to struggle for five years with the justice system and see this sentence issued.” Carrerra Almoina, whose influential father was president of a major university in Caracas, had been previously arrested for torturing his partner. After being detained and put under house arrest, Carrera Almoina attempted to flee with the help of his father. He was captured the next day, and his father was later charged with obstructing judicial action. Ms. Loaiza’s case was deferred by the Venezuelan justice system more than 30 times; 60 judges declined to prosecute the man accused of torturing her. More than three years later, Linda had to go on a 13-day hunger strike on the courthouse steps before the case finally went to trial, but on October 21, 2004, Carrera Almoina and his father were acquitted of all charges. The judge cited a “lack of evidence” and, astonishingly, ordered an investigation of Loaiza, her father, and sister for involvement in prostitution. This verdict was eventually thrown out and the case retried. Since this trial began last fall, Linda has started her own foundation, Fundación Amigos de Linda Loaiza, which will address both issues of violence against women and the process that women face to get justice. Linda’s foundation will also focus on raising community awareness of gender-based violence , working in partnership with PLAFAM, International Planned Parenthood Federation’s affiliate in Venezuela. In support of Ms. Loaiza, IPPF/WHR had launched an internet campaign, www.JusticeforLinda.org, that facilitated more than 40,000 messages of support from American activists to the Venezuelan courts. The International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) and its 46 member associations are committed to promoting the sexual and reproductive rights of women and men, in particular those most vulnerable and marginalized in society. We provide more than 18 million services a year —from contraceptive counseling and supplies to HIV prevention, testing and treatment— to the neediest people in the region.
# # # For more information, please contact: Dan Klotz (917) 438-4613 / (347) 307-2866 cell or Maria Antonieta Alcalde (212) 214-029 DESPITE FOUR MONTHS OF ABDUCTION, RAPE, AND TORTURE STILL NO JUSTICE FOR VENEZUELAN WOMAN IPPF/WHR launches www.JusticeForLinda.org campaign to urge Venezuelan courts to provide timely and fair trial August 2, 2005, New York, NY- Four years after being kidnapped, raped, and tortured over a period of four months, Linda Loaiza is still recovering from the physical and emotional battering that she suffered. After years of evasion, her captor and tormentor has still not been brought to justice. The International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region, is launching an advocacy campaign to ensure that justice is done. In July of 2001, Loaiza was rescued by police in Caracas, Venezuela, from the apartment of Luis Carrera Almoina, the accused perpetrator. She had been repeatedly raped and tortured; she was found in a state of severe malnutrition, with her earlobes destroyed, a nipple cut out, cigarette burns all over her body, multiple cranial fractures, and bruises and cuts on her face and genital area. “This incident occurred in Venezuela,” said Carmen Barroso, Western Hemisphere Regional Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, “but it is a horrible example of the immense difficulty faced by women in many other parts of the world when they seek justice in the face of violence and abuse.” Carrerra Almoina, whose influential father was president of a major university in Caracas, had been previously arrested for torturing his then-partner in 1999. After being detained and put under house arrest, Carrera Almoina attempted to flee with the help of his father. He was captured the next day, and his father was later charged with obstructing judicial action. Linda’s case was deferred by the Venezuelan justice system 29 times; 59 judges declined to prosecute the man accused of torturing her. More than three years later, Linda had to go on a thirteen-day hunger strike on the courthouse steps before the case finally went to trial, but on October 21, 2004, Carrera Almoina and his father were acquitted of all charges. The judge cited a “lack of evidence” and, astonishingly, ordered an investigation of Loaiza, her father, and sister for involvement in prostitution. Loaiza appealed the decision and in April, after much outcry and protest, an appeals court annulled the ruling and called for a new trial. The new trial was initially slated to begin at the end of July, but the defense has already delayed its start twice. Given the history of this case, there is reason for concern about whether justice will finally be served. “Through our advocacy arm, www.JusticeForLinda.org, International Planned Parenthood is rallying its supporters here in the U.S. and throughout Latin America to write to the Venezuelan government to ensure a fair outcome,” noted Barroso. “Linda’s personal tragedy should not become a judicial tragedy as well.” The International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) and its 46 member associations are committed to promoting the rights of women and men to decide freely the number and spacing of their children and to the highest possible level of sexual and reproductive health. We provide more than 18 million services - from contraceptive counseling and supplies to HIV prevention, testing and treatment - to the neediest people in the region. # # # New resource manual sets out guidelines for response to gender-based violence by women's health clinics New York, NY – Seeking to uncover and more actively confront the plague of violence against women, the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) released this week comprehensive program guidelines for improving the quality of care for survivors and an overall institutional response to gender-based violence (GBV). "Improving the Health-Sector Response to Gender-Based Violence: A Resource Manual for Health Care Professionals in Developing Countries” is geared principally to the needs of health-care managers in resource-poor countries. IPPF/WHR has found that as staff at women’s health-care clinics become more sensitive to the needs of survivors of gender-based violence, more cases are detected, allowing women to be treated for emotional and physical harm that would otherwise go unnoticed. Psycho-social support and clinical care can also empower these women with the understanding that they are not to blame for the abuse they have suffered. Rape, sexual and psychological abuse, and other gender-based violence affect women both directly and indirectly. When women are forced to have sex, they are at risk for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, and unintended pregnancies. For young women, early sexual initiation resulting from GBV has been associated with subsequent risk behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, more sexual partners, and lower use of contraceptives. Gender-based violence has also been linked to increased risk of gynecological disorders, unsafe abortions, pregnancy complications, miscarriages, low birth weight, and pelvic inflammatory disease. “Between 10 percent and 50 percent of women in every country in this hemisphere are subject to some form of gender-based violence,” said Carmen Barroso, Regional Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s Western Hemisphere Region. “This manual lays out the issues, discusses best practices for screening and treating survivors, and most importantly, provides strategies for implementing an effective program even when resources are scarce, which is particularly important for our affiliates in Latin America and the Caribbean.” IPPF/WHR spearheaded gender-based violence pilot initiatives in clinics run by three of its affiliates: PLAFAM (Venezuela), INPPARES (Peru), and Profamilia (Dominican Republic). Staff were trained to ask clients about GBV in ways that help them to overcome the stigma that often accompanies sexual and physical abuse, directly address the problem, and provide corresponding services or referrals. In each country, a concerted effort was made to integrate GBV into the wider offering of sexual and reproductive health services within their respective clinics, and also to reach out to other service providers within the private and public sectors to offer women comprehensive care for problems stemming from violence. For example, the provision of emergency contraceptive pills within five days after rape can help women avoid the possibility of an unwanted pregnancy in addition to the trauma they have already experienced. By providing an institution-wide approach to confronting gender-based violence, the publication presents the issue in the context of public health and human rights, rather than as a problem to be confronted by women as individuals. Specifically, the manual provides guidelines and practical tools for sensitizing staff, screening all clients, ensuring clients’ safety, providing emergency services for victims of rape, establishing support groups, and building referral networks with other organizations. Routine screening without comprehensive reforms throughout the institution can put women at additional risk. This manual serves as a guide for carrying out those comprehensive reforms. Many of these measures are not only applicable to clinics in Latin America and the Caribbean, but to any reproductive health facility, including those in the United States. The manual is being released in conjunction with 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, an annual global campaign that begins on November 25th -- the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, runs through World AIDS Day on December 1st, and ends on Human Rights Day, December 10th. Since its inception, more than 1,700 organizations in 130 countries have participated, using the annual campaign to call attention to gender-based violence and advocate for better resources to combat it. The manual will be distributed to IPPF/WHR’s affiliates in 46 countries throughout the Western Hemisphere as well as to domestic agencies and organizations involved in combating gender-based violence. It is available on CD-ROM from the Western Hemisphere Regional office (info@ippfwhr.org) and can also be ordered or downloaded online at http://www.ippfwhr.org/publications/publication_detail_e.asp?PubID=63). Also available are two videos (each in English and Spanish) that present compelling first-person responses, by survivors and healthcare practitioners, to gender-based violence in Latin America. The International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) and its 46 member associations are committed to promoting the rights of women and men to decide freely the number and spacing of their children and to the highest possible level of sexual and reproductive health. Annually, we provide more than 15 million services - from contraceptive counseling and supplies to HIV prevention, testing and treatment – to many of the neediest people in the region. # # # Cheryl Tiegs, Fran Lebowitz and Friends Hightlight International Planned Parenthood Federation's Western Hemisphere Region's 50th Anniversary Gala What: The Western Hemisphere Region of the International Planned Parenthood Federation celebrates its golden anniversary at the United Nations Honorees: Billie Miller, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados Alexander C. Sanger, Chair, International Planned Parenthood Council Presenters: Fran Lebowitz and Betty Rollin Entertainment: Special performance by poet, playwright and actor Sarah Jones. Guests: Event chairs Estrellita and Daniel Brodsky and Bicky and George Kellner, along with Cheryl Tiegs, Jeannette Watson, Hank and Leila Luce, John and Joan Jakobsen, Jackie and Rod Drake, Wendy Gimbel and Doug Liebhafsky. When: October 21, 2004 7:00 p.m. arrivals and cocktails; 7:45 p.m. dinner and presentations Where: Delegates' Dining Room, United Nations Headquarters First Avenue and 44th Street # # # “Sex & the Hemisphere” Symposium Highlights Critical Role of Sexual and Reproductive Health Programs in Economic Development New York – Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the United Nations Millennium Project, and Thoraya A. Obaid, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), lead the list of speakers at “Sex and the Hemisphere,” a symposium that will explore the centrality of sexual and reproductive health programs in achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The symposium will focus on how the poverty-reduction goals and women’s health issues intertwine in Latin American and Caribbean countries. “This symposium will help put the Millennium Development Goals into context,” said Carmen Barroso, Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR), convener of the symposium. “They were formulated without spelling out the critical role of family planning in the overall development process. As the MDGs approach Dr. Barroso will also speak at the symposium, along with Paulo Teixeira, former director of Brazil’s HIV/AIDS Program, Steven W. Sinding, IPPF’s Director General, and prominent Latin American development experts. The symposium will bring together policy makers from Latin American and Caribbean governments and UN agencies, as well as civil society, academia, and the press. Discussions will center on the contributions of sexual and reproductive health interventions to reducing poverty, with a close examination of what policies can ensure broad and equitable access to services, how much these measures cost, and what their benefits are. “One of the principal engines for reducing poverty and ensuring economic growth is the empowerment of women,” Professor Sachs said. “And the fuel for that engine includes women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services. Those basic needs remain unfulfilled in many parts of the world, including Latin America.” A follow-up symposium in Rio de Janeiro on November 30 will build on the results of New York. It will address in greater depth the interaction among the MDGs, sexual and reproductive health, human rights, health-sector reform, and macroeconomic policy in Latin America and the Caribbean. Civil society strategies to address challenges to the implementation of the MDGs in the region will also be examined in depth. What: Sex and the Hemisphere: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Latin America and the Caribbean ### September 28, 2004 Unsafe Illegal Abortions Are Killing Poor Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, Will This Be the Fate of Women in the U.S.? September 28 – today – is the Day for the Decriminalization of Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean, established in 1990 at the Fifth Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting. September 28, 2004 – today – is still a day when poor women continue to die in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) from unsafe illegal abortions, while in the United States, access to safe, legal abortion is increasingly threatened. Nearly thirty-two years after Roe vs. Wade, Medicaid provides coverage for abortions only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest, and only in 32 states, according to the National Network of Abortion Funds. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, millions of abortions are performed every year, most of them under unsafe, clandestine conditions. Although many LAC countries permit abortion under a limited set of circumstances, complications from unsafe abortion still account for nearly one-third of all maternal deaths in the region. Ensuring women’s access to safe and legal abortion will save the lives of 5,000 women every year, most of whom are poor, adolescents or mothers of three children or more, and Catholic. These women are among the 220 million people living in poverty in the region. Alleviating poverty and increasing access to safe abortion services where they are legal are primary actions stipulated during the Cairo Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the Beijing Women’s Conference and ratified by all governments in the region, including the U.S. government. However, in LAC countries and in the U. S. even when abortion is legally permitted, safe abortion services are often inaccessible, especially for women who are poor, young, or live in rural areas. Our governments have the obligation to fulfill the commitments made at the United Nations conferences, including the Millennium Development Goals, related to eradication of poverty and maternal mortality. More recently, NGO representatives and other important stakeholders meeting at the Countdown 2015 Global Roundtable in London to review progress implementing the Cairo agenda, agreed that even more needs to be done and called on governments and the global community to ensure universal access to safe, legal abortion in order to end preventable deaths and injuries of women and girls from unsafe abortion. We, diverse members of U.S.-based NGOs, join with our allies in the Latin America and Caribbean region in calling on our governments to eliminate all legal and political obstacles to adequate reproductive health services and technical assistance in order to guarantee women’s access to safe and legal abortion in the region. We join millions of women from Latin America and around the globe to demand the right women have to decide for themselves, to call upon societies to respect their decision, and governments to guarantee safe and legal abortion services for all women who need them. Catholics for a Free Choice, CFFC ### Family Planning Groups Blast Denial of U.S. Contribution to UN Population Fund President George Bush has put election-year politics ahead of helping the world's most vulnerable women. Relying on a discredited claim that UNFPA supports forced sterilization and abortion in China, the Administration has once again refused to release to the agency $34 million appropriated by Congress. In 2002, a hand-picked Administration fact-finding team found "no evidence that UNFPA has supported or participated in the management of a program of coercive abortion." In fact, UNFPA was found to help reduce such practices in China. But in 2004, re-election comes before reason. "We are profoundly disappointed that President Bush has decided to put pandering to his conservative 'base' before the thousands of lives that could be saved in some of the world's poorest countries by access to family-planning services," said Carmen Barroso, director of International Planned Parenthood's Western Hemisphere Region. "This demonstrates once again the isolation of the United States in confronting the global crisis in women’s health, compounding the intense and fully deserved criticism of its abstinence-only approach to AIDS prevention that it recently received at the International AIDS conference in Bangkok." Adding insult to injury, the Administration has reneged on an earlier promise to reallocate money withheld from UNFPA to other international family planning programs. Instead, the President intends instead to add money to his anti-sex-trafficking campaign. While anti-trafficking is a worthy cause, money for this does nothing for the millions of women who need basic reproductive health care and the means to control their child bearing. UNFPA estimates that the $34 million it has lost could prevent up to 2 million unwanted pregnancies, 800,000 induced abortions and 4,700 maternal deaths, as well as 77,000 infant and child deaths. "In denying UNFPA this life-giving support, the Bush Administration has betrayed the 'firm commitment to women's reproductive health' it restated today," said Jodi Jacobson, director of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE). "The President admits that he took money from the UNFPA to fund his own, pre-determined priorities. The Administration has thus defied the will of Congress and has failed to listen to the priorities of the American people. Ironically, the consequence will be more, rather than fewer, abortions and women’s deaths." On June 13, CHANGE and IPPF/WHR led a campaign that produced thousands of telephone calls to the White House in support of UNFPA funding. Co-sponsors included over forty women's rights, reproductive health, environmental, religious, and HIV/AIDS organizations based in the United States and internationally. For a complete list of organizations please go to http://www.freechoicesaveslives.org/ippfwhr/unfpa_supporters.html ### Diverse Groups Unite to Save Women’s Lives Abroad On Thursday, July 15th, the Bush administration is expected to decide - for the third consecutive year - to refuse to release funds appropriated by Congress for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an agency that provides life-saving maternal and child health, family planning and HIV prevention services to women and their families in low and middle-income countries worldwide. International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) and the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) have joined with more than 40 national and state-level organizations - ranging from the National Audubon Society to the United Methodist Church - to urge thousands of Americans to call the White House on Tuesday, July 13th, 2004 and tell the President to release funding to UNFPA. Dr. Carmen Barroso, Director of IPPF/WHR, urged their 43,000+ activists to demand that the Administration "put politics aside and let the UNFPA provide desperately needed health services to the women and children of developing countries." She noted that "It appears that political posturing, not facts nor concern for global public health, motivates this severe blow to UNFPA." Jodi Jacobson, Executive Director of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) noted that, "Since the March for Women's Lives in April, momentum has been building to restore funding for UNFPA and to challenge the increasing use by this administration of the lives of women and children as political pawns to satisfy the far right. It's outrageous that the Bush administration continues to play games with global public health - we've had enough!" The Bush Administration continues to withhold the U.S. contribution to UNFPA based on specious charges that UNFPA supports forced abortions in China, despite the fact that a handpicked White House investigative team found "no evidence that UNFPA has supported or participated in the management of a program of coercive abortion." In fact, the White House panel noted that "UNFPA's presence in China has resulted in fewer abortions and forced sterilizations in the counties in which it works," and strongly recommended that the "...$34 million owed to UNFPA be released" because UNFPA is a force for change in China’s practices. In effect, notes Jacobson, "by withholding funds from UNFPA, the Administration is exacerbating the very problem it claims to want to solve." "Because of its actions," concludes Barroso, "it is the United States government that is complicit in abusive programs in China." The National Call-In Day will take place on Tuesday, July 13th. Visit http://www.freechoicesaveslives.org/ippfwhr/callinday.html for more information and a full list of partner organizations. ### Western Hemisphere Reaffirms Global Consensus on Health and Rights SAN JUAN, PR - U.S. organizations attending the biannual meeting of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) applauded the final passage of a resolution to reaffirm the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (in Cairo, Egypt). The resolution passed despite weeks of intense pressure by U.S. government representatives on Latin American countries to roll back the 10-year old global consensus. But when country after country spoke for advancing the 10-year old global consensus to protect and promote the health of women children and the environment, the United States was left with little choice but to join the consensus or to further isolate itself on the global stage. Members of a coalition of U.S. organizations, A Mother's Promise the World Must Keep, a campaign to reaffirm the 1994 agreement (often called the Cairo Consensus), attended the meeting in San Juan. The health, environmental, religious and human rights organizations - representing millions of Americans - called on the U.S. delegation to join the U.S. public and "U.S. citizens believe in the promise of Cairo," said Alia Khan, director of Planned Parenthood Global Partners(r) at Planned Parenthood(r) Federation of America, a leader of the campaign. "And they want our nation to join others in making that promise a reality for women and their families." While U.S. groups welcomed the consensus on the ECLAC resolution to reaffirm, they remained skeptical of U.S. government policies. "This administration has a record of undermining global health, from imposing the global gag rule to cutting off funding for the U.N. Population Fund, to forcing health care organizations to use abstinence-only (some say 'ignorance-only') HIV prevention curricula," Khan continued. "It will be utterly important to watch what they do, not just what they say." "For the last year and a half, in regional negotiations on sexual and reproductive rights in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the U.S. has been completely alone in its opposition to comprehensive reproductive health services and sexuality education for young people," said Angeles Cabria, Senior Program Officer for Latin America at the International Women's Health Coalition. "While the U.S. has joined the consensus today, they continued until the last minute to pressure Central American countries here to pull back from the Cairo agenda." The United States issued an "explanation of position" that reiterated the administration's political agenda to restrict access to reproductive health information and services, and interfere with individuals' personal, private decisions about their own health. ### Latin American & Caribbean Family Planning Leaders to March on “These valiant people lead the daily struggle in their countries to provide desperately needed sexual and reproductive health services to disadvantaged women, men and teens,” said Carmen Barroso, regional director of IPPF/WHR, the leading provider of family planning services in Latin America, the Caribbean and The Global Gag Rule is an executive order signed by President Bush that denies funding to foreign health care providers that educate women about their right to choose. The Gag Rule cuts funding to these essential providers, compromising women's health and condemning hundreds of thousands of women and girls in Latin America, the IPPF/WHR’s international delegation ranges from famous researchers to youth peer counselors: · Nina Puri. Ph.D (India), President of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and Chairperson of Regional Executive Committee, South Asia Region of IPPF. · Carmen Barroso (Brazil), Regional Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region · Monty Eustace (St. Vincent) Treasurer of IPPF and President of the Regional Council of IPPF/WHR and Chair of the Board of the Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation. · Dona Da Costa Martinez (Trinidad & Tobago), Executive Director of the Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago. · Jacqueline Sharpe, Ph. D (Trinidad & Tobago), President of the Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago. · Carmen Rivera (Puerto Rico) Executive Director of PROFAMILIA · · Valentina Figuera (
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Three Years is Enough - Time to Remove the Global Gag Rule
“The Global Gag Rule stands between the world's poorest women and one of the most important elements of their development and well-being: reproductive health services," said Dr. Carmen Barroso, regional director of IPPF/WHR. “We need to intensify the public’s outcry over the harmful effects of this policy.”
The launch of the FreeChoiceSavesLives.org Campaign on January 22nd coincides with the third anniversary of the reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule by President George W. Bush, his first official act as President. The Global Gag Rule forces foreign organizations to choose between vital
Ironically, although the Bush Administration claims that the Global Gag Rule is aimed at reducing abortions overseas, it is having the opposite effect: by failing to provide sufficient contraceptive services, the Gag Rule puts more women at risk of unplanned pregnancies and hence abortions, as well as maternal and child deaths, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. And because the Gag Rule limits access to safe abortions even in countries where abortion is legal, it increases women's risk of unsafe abortions, endangering women's lives. Furthermore, by gagging recipients of
“The Bush Administration is deciding the fate of women's health and economic opportunities based on political ideology instead of scientific and medical reason,” said Alex Sanger, chair of IPPF/WHR's International Planned Parenthood Council. “We must make our voices in support of women's rights heard.” ### |
