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Support Real Investment in Family Planning: It's Time to Double the Money

Target: U.S. Congress
Sponsored by: Population Connection

What Will $1 Billion Buy? Security. Stability. Survival.

Few investments promise as positive a return as family planning. But in the last decade, U.S. funding for international family planning programs has declined by almost 40%. At the same time, the number of women of reproductive age in the developing world has increased by more than 275 million.

Today, more than 200 million women in the developing world wish to delay or end childbearing but do not have access to modern contraceptives. Lack of access to family planning services contributes to a host of devastating consequences for the entire world: resource insecurity, social instability, and maternal and child death.

If the United States wants to meet these 21st century challenges, then it is time for a change in direction: a return to real investment in family planning.

An investment of $1 billion – roughly double our current spending – represents the United States fair share of the total cost of meeting the existing unmet need for family planning in the developing world, and it is a good investment in a healthy future for all of us.

Sign the petition, and let Congress know that real investment in family planning will reap massive rewards for the whole planet.

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deadline: Ongoing...
goal: 20,000

9,991
signatures!

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Let Congress know why you support international family planning programs:

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Dear Representative [Last Name]:

Few investments promise as positive a return as family planning. Every additional $100 million provided for family planning will allow 3.6 million additional women to use modern contraceptives and will result in: 2.1 million fewer unintended pregnancies; 825,000 fewer abortions; nearly a million fewer unplanned births; 70,000 fewer infant deaths; and, 4,000 fewer maternal deaths.

Real investment in family planning will:

Save the lives of women and children and improve quality of life for everyone.
Every year, more than half a million women die of pregnancy related causes worldwide and more than fifty million women suffer serious complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. Nearly all of these deaths and injuries are preventable. In fact, universal access to contraceptives could prevent nearly half of all maternal deaths and a significant proportion of infant deaths. The link between expanded access to family planning and increased maternal and child survival has been proven over and over in countries in every part of the world.

Today, there are 200 million women who would like to limit or space pregnancies but have no access to modern methods of contraceptives. Demand for birth control is projected to increase by 40 percent in the next fifteen years. It's time for the United States to renew its commitment to make a real investment in family planning.

Protect the environment and relieve pressure on natural resources.
Continuing population growth in the developing world contributes to resource scarcity and human suffering. Population growth leads to the destruction of forests, the spread of deserts, the pollution and over-fishing of oceans and waterways, and it is a major contributor to the climate change crisis. The end results are resource depletion, environmental degradation and malnutrition.

Failure to give people the ability to make their own choices about childbearing will make solutions to all of these challenges significantly more difficult to find.

Encourage social stability and decrease conflict.
Resource scarcity and other population pressures place stress on fragile governments and other social structures. Many poor countries struggle to maintain health care, schooling and urban infrastructure in the face of rapid population growth. Countries that lack the means to provide the most basic needs of their people -- food, water, housing education, employment -- are at significant risk of instability and conflict. In countries with significant unmet need for contraceptives, high fertility rates are leading to "youth bulges" -- a high proportion of young people with little or no hope of education and employment.

As you know, the United States was once a global leader in supporting family planning, but our contributions to international family planning programs over the past decade have been inadequate. Indeed, our nation is contributing significantly less than it did fourteen years ago. When inflation is considered, we are providing 40 percent less than we did in 1995.

It's time to reverse this trend. That is why I urge you to support significant new funding and policy language to strengthen family planning programs in the FY '09 State Department, Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. Specifically, I ask that you provide a total of $1 billion for family planning in the developing world, including $63.5 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). In addition, I urge you to include new policy language to ensure that the UNFPA funding is not withheld by the administration.

To paraphrase former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, family planning builds stronger families, stronger communities and stronger countries. An investment of $1 billion represents the United States fair share of the total cost of meeting the existing unmet need for family planning in the developing world and it is a good investment in a healthy future for all of us.

[Your Comments]

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Address]

We Support Real Investment in Family Planning!

# 9,992:

9:24 pm PDT, May 11, Wendy Bohrer, New Jersey

# 9,991:

9:10 pm PDT, May 11, Kim Ganz, California

# 9,990:

9:09 pm PDT, May 11, Evelyn Peoples Jordan, Florida

# 9,989:

9:07 pm PDT, May 11, Brian Campopiano, California

# 9,988:

9:02 pm PDT, May 11, Name not displayed, Ohio

# 9,987:

9:00 pm PDT, May 11, Annamaria Szendroi, Arizona

# 9,986:

8:58 pm PDT, May 11, April Bassett, New Mexico

# 9,985:

8:58 pm PDT, May 11, Rose Marie kuhn, California

# 9,984:

8:56 pm PDT, May 11, Nancy Queen, Virginia

# 9,983:

8:55 pm PDT, May 11, Amy Reynolds, California

# 9,982:

8:51 pm PDT, May 11, Connie Manley, New York

# 9,981:

8:46 pm PDT, May 11, Megan Fartley, Connecticut
Well people like in China and the U.S.A. need to do some thing. It is gross how these 13-19 years fuckin kids are having babies. It's unrealstic. It's called getting a hold of reality. And these little girls need to get slapped with it. It's disgusting. Babies having babies.

# 9,980:

8:36 pm PDT, May 11, Nell Hergenrather, California
Empowering women to have some control over their family planning is essential to living in harmony.

# 9,979:

8:24 pm PDT, May 11, D.J. Matthews, Delaware

# 9,978:

8:22 pm PDT, May 11, Genevieve Noble, Kentucky

# 9,977:

8:21 pm PDT, May 11, Constance Smith, Pennsylvania

# 9,976:

8:16 pm PDT, May 11, Dean Thompson, Texas

# 9,975:

8:13 pm PDT, May 11, Caroline Jones, Texas

# 9,974:

8:13 pm PDT, May 11, Aimee Van Buren, California

# 9,973:

7:56 pm PDT, May 11, Clark Davis, California
This is a no brainer, and if it doesn't pass because of the rotten Bush administration and creep Republicans this year, it will next year for sure. Vote Democratic and save America!

# 9,972:

7:53 pm PDT, May 11, Name not displayed, Massachusetts

# 9,971:

7:50 pm PDT, May 11, Name not displayed, California

# 9,970:

7:43 pm PDT, May 11, LYNETTE KEEN, Ohio
THE EARTH CAN ONLY SUPPLY SO MUCH BEFORE IT GIVES OUT. IT IS SEVERELY OVER-POPULATED. PEOPLE WHO ARE REDUCED TO EATING DIRT OR GRASS SHOULD NOT BE PRODUCING OFF-SPRING. BIRTH CONTROL FOR EVERYONE !!!

# 9,969:

7:43 pm PDT, May 11, Marg Rich, Minnesota

# 9,968:

7:43 pm PDT, May 11, Stacy Moranville, Utah
International family planning is critical to help impoverished people improve their quality of life, while slowing down the consumption of the world's limited resources.

# 9,967:

7:38 pm PDT, May 11, Bob Gaspardino, Texas

# 9,966:

7:31 pm PDT, May 11, Caroline O'Brien, Missouri

# 9,965:

7:24 pm PDT, May 11, Nicole Stanke, Wisconsin
We need to stablize the world population.

# 9,964:

7:15 pm PDT, May 11, Name not displayed, Florida

# 9,963:

7:15 pm PDT, May 11, Candy SHIELDS, Ohio

# 9,962:

7:13 pm PDT, May 11, Beverly Wing, New York

# 9,961:

7:09 pm PDT, May 11, Claire Decock, Oregon

# 9,960:

7:09 pm PDT, May 11, Jennifer Gardner, Florida

# 9,959:

7:07 pm PDT, May 11, Name not displayed, California

# 9,958:

6:51 pm PDT, May 11, VictoriaM Stong Civil RightsActivist, New York
STOP DEPRIVING WOMEN OF THE ASSISTANCE AND SERVICES THEY SO DESPERATELY NEED. THIS IS A BASIC SERVICE THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY FOR THE WELL BEING OF ALL MOMS AND SINGLE WOMEN WHO NEED TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THEIR PERSONAL DECISIONS WITH BEING DEPRIVED TO CARRY OUT THE DECISION FOR THEIR WELL-BEING, SAFETY AND SECURITY OF THEIR FAMILIES. MANY MEN MAKE WOMEN PREGNANT DELIBERATELY AS A WAY TO ISOLATE, NEGLECT AND ABUSE THEM AS THEY ARE POWER-HAPPY. A WOMAN SHOULD BE ABLE TO IMMEDIATELY PREVENT PREGNANCY WHEN IN A BAD RELATIONSHIP OR FOR HER FINANCIAL AND/OR HEALTH'S SAKE. PLEASE ACCEPT THIS PETITION ON BEHALF OF ALL THE SUFFERING WOMEN OUT THERE WHO HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER. THIS IS TRULY AND ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY AS ALSO MANY WOMEN BECOME PREGNANT AFTER RAPE ALSO. DON'T PUNISH US FOR YOUR PERSONAL ISSUES AND CRIMES!!

# 9,957:

6:49 pm PDT, May 11, Jo Love, Hawaii

# 9,956:

6:48 pm PDT, May 11, Maydene Fisher, California
Too many people vying for too few resources is a sure recipe for disaster. Plus women need and deserve the ability to plan their families.

# 9,955:

6:47 pm PDT, May 11, Vicki Wiltse, California
Women have a right to be in control of their own bodies. Give them the power to make their own decisions about their reproductive lives and the world will be a better place for everyone.

# 9,954:

6:38 pm PDT, May 11, Susan Nierenberg, New Jersey
As a Certified Nurse-Midwife, who has cared for poor women for almost 25 years, I see how unplanned pregnancies damage women and familes. Women need access to accurate unbiased information and services to protect them from unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

# 9,953:

6:33 pm PDT, May 11, Jessica Lehman, Oregon

# 9,952:

6:30 pm PDT, May 11, Stephanie Buech, California

# 9,951:

6:27 pm PDT, May 11, John Johnson, Wisconsin

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