Celebrate Mother's Day by Helping Women Around the World
It's easy -- just sign the petition below to join us in urging Congress to increase funding for international family planning programs.
Every minute a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth. Family planning could prevent many of those needless deaths. Currently, family planning programs prevent 105 million abortions (many of them unsafe) and nearly 3 million infant deaths worldwide every year. With better funding from the U.S. government, family planning programs could save even more women's lives and ensure more healthy births.
Unfortunately, President Bush recently proposed cutting the budget for these already under-funded programs by 18%!
Congress will be deciding how much to invest in international family planning in the next few weeks.
This Mother's Day please honor and celebrate womanhood by adding your name to the petition below to ask Congress not to skimp on funding for these life saving programs.
I am writing to urge you to honor Mother's Day by increasing funding for international family planning programs in the FY07 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act. These crucial programs have been consistently under-funded by the U.S., and the President's FY07 budget requests just $357 million, an 18% reduction from FY06's already low level.
More than 500,000 women die from pregnancy or childbirth each year, and almost 50% of infant deaths are a result of poor maternal health and inadequate delivery care. Maternal deaths most frequently occur in the poorest countries in the world due to limited services to promote safe motherhood and a lack of basic health infrastructures.
In response to a growing global health crisis, the U.S. now operates family planning programs in more than 50 countries in the developing world. Each year international programs like these help prevent 105 million abortions, 22 million miscarriages, and nearly 3 million infant deaths. Yet these programs, which provide HIV/AIDS testing and treatment, maternal health care, and sexual and gender-based violence programs in addition to family planning services, are unable to meet the demands of a growing population with their current level of funding.
Investing in family planning will prevent maternal and child health problems across the globe. Please increase international family planning assistance, or at the very least maintain the current (FY06) level of funding to international family planning. Please make this Mother's Day a happy one for the world's most vulnerable women and their families.
Sincerely,
/Your Name/
/Your Address/
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