March 2021 the Global Gag Rule Is Gone… for Now President’S Note

Volume 53, Issue 1 March 2021 The Global Gag Rule Is Gone… for Now President’s Note

hen Dr. Fauci gives us the all-clear and theaters warned against complacency in terms of threats posed by popu- finally reopen, what will you do if you see smoke lation growth. when entering a facility? You’ll pull the alarm, of course.W That’s the only humane and sensible reaction. Yet, the Green Revolution led some to claim that population growth wasn’t a problem and that The Population Bomb was a In 1968, Paul and Anne Ehrlich did just that with The Population false alarm. But the evidence clearly shows that there was—and Bomb when they warned that widespread famine would deci- still is—a fire in our global theater. Its main cause, however, mate humanity. Some tagged them as alarmists, alongside appears to be chemical in nature. Specifically, those higher Rachel Carson, just as some call Greta Thunberg an alarmist crop yields that reduced famine and hunger are partly due to today. increased use of petrochemicals for fertilizers, insecticides, and greater mechanization. We avoided the worst immediate outcomes back then by sacrific- ing our precious atmosphere through the use of petrochemicals Massive use of fossil fuel products is causing our planet to to boost crop yields. Yet the underlying driver remains the same: descend into climate chaos. Related to that, we’re in the midst rapid population growth. of the Sixth Extinction. Plus, nearly two-thirds of the people on earth may experience water scarcity at least one month each The Population Bomb was published less than a decade after the year. At the same time, we’re adding 80 million people to the Great Famine in China, which took perhaps 30 million lives. planet annually. Sounds like a true population crisis, doesn’t it? And, as it was being written, some 1.5 million people in Africa were dying from famine. So, it’s hardly surprising that hunger We need to listen to respected voices, including those in the threats were front-and-center. At the same time The Population Global South, who see the daily toll of misery and destruction Bomb was released, Norman Borlaug and his team were laying directly related to rapid population growth. We live in alarming the groundwork for the Green Revolution, for which he received times, so we must still raise the alarm. Complacency is not our the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. In his acceptance speech, he friend. John Seager [email protected]

Want to Have a Conversation About Population? What do a longtime educator in the Alaskan bush, the former head of a national medical society, and a retired moose manager in Minnesota have in common? They’re all longtime Population Connection members with whom I’ve had great conversations recently about how they came to be interested in population stabilization. If you’d like to share your own story with me or just discuss our issue, you can pick a time by going to calendly.com/population/talk. Or you can just email me at [email protected]. Volume 53, Issue 1 March 2021

Features Board Chair Estelle Raboni, MPH, MCHES 14 "You Can't Just Remove the Damage of the Last Four Board of Directors Years" Aaron S. Allen, PhD Rodrigo Barillas, MD, MBA By Kara Fox and Nicole Gaouette Amy Dickson, MPH Katie Ferman, MNA 20 Trump Left International Abortion Rights in Shambles, Bryce Hach, MS (Secretary) Activists Say. Can Biden Undo the Damage? Mark Hathaway, MD, MPH By Urooba Jamal Padgett Kelly, PhD Bob Pettapiece, EdD (Treasurer) Dara Purvis, JD (Vice Chair) Mary Beth Weinberger, MA Kevin Whaley, PhD Departments President and CEO John Seager 2 Editor’s Note [email protected] 3 Letters to the Editor Editor Marian Starkey, MSc 4 Pop Facts [email protected] 6 In the News Population Connection (ISSN 2331-0529) 8 The President’s Circle Population Connection is the national grassroots population organization that educates young 12 Membership Engagement people and advocates progressive action to 26 Washington View stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth’s resources. 28 Field & Outreach Annual membership ($25) includes a one-year 30 PopEd subscription to Population Connection magazine, published quarterly. Population Connection 32 Cartoon is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. As such, 33 Editorial Excerpts contributions, bequests, and gifts are fully tax- deductible in accordance with current laws. Population Connection Cover Image: Melvine Ouyo, a Nairobi- 2120 L Street, NW, Suite 500 based reproductive health nurse and Washington, DC 20037 former clinic director at Family Health (202) 332-2200 • (800) 767-1956 Options Kenya, lost funding due to [email protected] Trump’s Global Gag Rule. In May 2020, populationconnection.org she founded Hope for Kenya Slum populationeducation.org Adolescents Initiative, where she serves popconnect.org/magazine-archives as Executive Director. (Photo: Lisa Shannon)

popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 1 Editor’s Note

went for a [masked and distanced] walk with a friend at of the United States and to find sensible paths to citizenship for a local nature preserve last weekend, and it wasn’t until the Dreamers who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. we were getting back to our cars that I realized we hadn’t Italked about politics once. Instead, we talked about our jobs Despite all these wins, though, we must not return to the com- and our husbands, about the books we’ve recently read and placency that led to the predicament we found ourselves in for the movies we’ve recently watched, about her children and my the past four years. We must learn to strike a balance between dogs. In other words, we had the mental freedom to think of informed citizen and despondent doomscroller*. and discuss things other than the words and actions of the man currently residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, If you are looking for a way to stay engaged with us and our DC. What a relief. work now that the resistance to the Trump administration is over, there are still important things do be done. We now have a Knowing that there’s a grownup in the White House is a salve supportive majority in the White House, Senate, and House of to the stressed souls of Americans across the country. It gives us Representatives, so we finally have a very good chance of pass- the brain space to relax and let our president do his job without ing the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights (HER) Act watching his every move, waiting for the next outrageous tweet (S.142/H.R.556) to end the Global Gag Rule forever through or press conference or public temper tantrum. And it allows us congressional repeal. Passing the Abortion is Health Care to work toward pushing for new policies on and funding for Everywhere Act to repeal the Helms Amendment is a taller voluntary family planning programs that will help to stabilize order, but a challenge has never stopped us from trying before! population, rather than having to spend all our time fighting against bad policies and funding cuts. And if you’re interested in putting your efforts toward population activism, we’ve got plenty of opportunities for you to get Since taking office, Joe Biden has rescinded the Global Gag involved with our staff and other Population Connection mem- Rule, restored funding to the United Nations Population Fund bers, virtually—see page 12 for more information about that. I (UNFPA), withdrawn the United States from the anti-choice hope to see you at one of our upcoming online events! Geneva Consensus Declaration, and begun the necessary steps to overturn the Title X Domestic Gag Rule. He’s resumed U.S. Marian Starkey [email protected] support for the Paris Climate Agreement and reinstated over 100 U.S. environmental protections. He’s working to make our immigration system rational in terms of the needs of refugees, * One who obsessively scrolls through bad news on their asylum-seekers, and others who wish to become legal residents smartphone, even though it makes them feel terrible

2 Population Connection — March 2021 Send correspondence to

Letters to the Editor [email protected]. Attn: Marian Starkey Letters are also accepted via Population Connection postal mail. Letters may be 2120 L St NW, Suite 500 edited for clarity and length. Washington, DC 20037

First of all, let me say that I very much appreciated your review about not wanting more children. Young women friends of of Matthew Yglesias’ book One Billion Americans: The Case for mine who are absolutely sure they do not want children find Thinking Bigger. You appropriately and accurately point out and it impossible to obtain a tubal ligation. We (they and I) find underscore the absurdity of the thesis. it ludicrous that their requests are disrespected based on their age and the disbelief that a woman would actually not want to However, I believe you could have and should have found fault procreate or have more children. These are smart, introspective with the disconcerting descriptor “Rust Belt.” You used a foot- women. They know their own minds. I understand the com- note to explicate the realities of fertility rates. You could have plexity of the issue of sterilization, however, when a woman asks used a footnote to highlight the denigrating quality of the term that it be an option, she shouldn’t need to prove her request or Rust Belt. As a native of Chicago, I find this phrase offensive be patronized by those with the ability to deny her that avenue. and inaccurate. It has negative innuendo and imagery and is a You cover so many important topics—maybe this is one whose product of a thoughtless media. I believe the term is used in a time has come? Discussion leads to possibilities. careless manner to add inaccurate texture. I know that you are not thoughtless, but maybe this barbed idiom is easily over- Joanne Harrington looked. I note that words such as West Coast, Mountain West, and South are used elsewhere in your magazine to identify other We subscribe to Population Connection magazine. You are the areas. I ask that pundits, journalists, authors, and others in the only people doing the work that really counts. As a lifelong media limit the invidious term Rust Belt to those times when environmentalist, writer, and former national media director for they are actually talking about rust. We of the Upper Midwest Greenpeace, my big gripe was that no one was paying attention must unify and resist terms and categories that are inaccurate to the critical issue of our time: overpopulation. and/or demeaning. The term is hurtful (at least I am hurt by it). Thank you for your consideration of this request. Neville Williams

Dennis O. Vidoni I want to include a note about the Pop Facts infographic in the December 2020 issue of our magazine, since a couple of people wrote I appreciate everything that you folks at Population Connection in with clarifying questions. We should have included percentage do. The forbidden topic is sterilization of women. One of the symbols next to the various bars in the charts we depicted. Leaving best days of my life was when I got a tubal ligation, however, the symbols out was an unintentional oversight, and I apologize for it took me being in my forties and having survived the death any confusion that may have caused to our readers! of my 16-year-old son to assure my doctor that I was ‘serious’ –Marian

popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 3 P & Peace AN ESTIMATED 2 BILLION PEOPLE currently face moderate or o population growth will be severe food insecurity. By 2050, this figure is expected to among the main challenges increase to 3.5 billion people. P for development and peace. U THERE IS NOW 60% LESS FRESH WATER by 2050 available per person today than l there was in the early 1960s. The THE GLOBAL POPULATION IS PROJECTED TO GROW population is increasing faster a 35% In the least peaceful countries compared than water availability. to a 2% decline in the most peaceful.

t the 40 least peaceful countries will have an NATURAL DISASTERS DISPLACED additional 1.3 billion people and will be home 25 MILLION PEOPLE to more than half of the world’s population. I in 2019. This is three times higher than the 8.6 million displaced 80% of the world’s population will live in by armed conflict. countries which are in the bottom half of o the Global Peace Index rankings.

n Source: Institute for Economics & Peace. Ecological Threat Register 2020: Understanding Ecological Threats, Resilience and Peace, Sydney, September 2020. visionofhumanity.org/resources/ecological-threat-register

4 Population Connection — March 2021 P & Peace AN ESTIMATED 2 BILLION PEOPLE currently face moderate or o population growth will be severe food insecurity. By 2050, this figure is expected to among the main challenges increase to 3.5 billion people. P for development and peace. U THERE IS NOW 60% LESS FRESH WATER by 2050 available per person today than l there was in the early 1960s. The THE GLOBAL POPULATION IS PROJECTED TO GROW population is increasing faster a 35% In the least peaceful countries compared than water availability. to a 2% decline in the most peaceful. t the 40 least peaceful countries will have an NATURAL DISASTERS DISPLACED additional 1.3 billion people and will be home 25 MILLION PEOPLE to more than half of the world’s population. I in 2019. This is three times higher than the 8.6 million displaced 80% of the world’s population will live in by armed conflict. countries which are in the bottom half of o the Global Peace Index rankings.

popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 5 In the News By Stacie Murphy, Director of Congressional Relations

U.S. Rejoins Paris Climate the emissions gap and stay under 1.5°C that state—a move they have explicitly Agreement of warming, wealthy individuals must said is meant to trigger a court challenge reduce their emissions by a factor of 30, that could ultimately give the Supreme Only hours after being sworn in as the while the poorest 50 percent of people Court an opportunity to overturn Roe country’s 46th president, Joe Biden could triple their current emissions. v. Wade. Multiple states have attempted signed an executive order rejoining Study Finds 1 Percent to enact restrictions over the last several the Paris Climate Agreement, from of People Responsible years, but with the death of Justice Ruth which Donald Trump had previously for Half of All Aviation Bader Ginsburg—a longtime champion withdrawn. The agreement, signed by Emissions of reproductive rights—the ideological nearly 200 countries in December 2015, balance of the Court has changed. Anti- encourages countries to voluntarily com- A new study published in the Global choice activists hope that Ginsburg’s mit to lowering their carbon emissions Environmental Change journal found replacement, the more conservative Amy with the goal of keeping the total aver- that aviation emissions are heavily Coney Barrett, will provide the decisive age global temperature increase to under concentrated among a tiny sliver of vote in striking down Roe. two degrees above pre-industrial levels. the population. In 2018, only around Additionally, President Biden ordered 11 percent of people traveled by air, Meanwhile, Massachusetts has become federal agencies to begin the process of with no more than 4 percent doing the latest state to enact affirmative pro- reinstating the more than 100 environ- so internationally. The most frequent tections for abortion, with the state mental regulations weakened or rolled travelers—no more than 1 percent of legislature overriding a veto from back by the previous administration. global population—are responsible for Governor Charlie Baker to pass the To Slow Climate Change, an estimated 50 percent of all aviation ROE Act, which will allow abortions the Wealthy Must Cut Their emissions. Individuals using private after 24 weeks of pregnancy in cases of Carbon Footprint air travel—a relatively tiny number of a fatal fetal anomaly and in instances extremely wealthy individuals—may be when a physician deems it necessary “to

The wealthiest 1 percent of the world’s responsible for up to 7,500 tons of CO2 preserve the patient’s physical or mental population is responsible for twice annually. Additionally, the study found health.” It also lowers the age at which the carbon emissions of the bottom that because large segments of avia- teens can seek an abortion without per- 50 percent, according to a new report tion emissions are not covered by policy mission from a parent or a judge from from the United Nations Environment agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol 18 to 16. Programme (UNEP). The report, or the Paris Agreement, wealthy coun- Teen Pregnancy Costs released in December 2020, studies tries with higher numbers of frequent Latin America Billions the so-called “emissions gap” between travelers should consider travel dispari- Each Year wealthy and poor countries, as well as ties in their internal emission mitigation the ways disparities in individual life- efforts. A new United Nations Population Fund styles contribute to overall emissions States Take Divergent (UNFPA) study of six Latin American levels within countries. It concludes that Paths on Abortion Access countries indicates that the region’s high broad, systemic change—at both the teenage pregnancy rate exacts an enor- societal and individual level—is needed Republican state lawmakers in Arkansas mous economic cost—an average of to meet the emissions goals set forth in have filed legislation that, if enacted, more than $1.2 billion per country each the Paris Climate Agreement. To close would amount to a total abortion ban in year. The research takes into account not

6 Population Connection — March 2021 only direct health care expenditures, but Multiple trends have combined to make law as in keeping with “traditional val- also the loss of earnings due to reduced larger families unattractive, includ- ues,” despite the fact that public opinion educational attainment and lower labor ing challenging economic conditions polls show majorities opposed additional market participation. The study found for young adults and a still-patriarchal restrictions. that those who gave birth during ado- culture that disproportionately saddles In Major Step Forward, lescence were three times less likely to women with the burdens of childrear- Argentina Legalizes obtain a university degree than those ing. In a sign of how deeply entrenched Abortion who did not, earned 24 percent less in these norms are, suggestions posted to annual income, and were more likely to a government website in 2019 encour- In December, Argentina became the experience unemployment and chronic aged pregnant women to plan ahead for largest country in Latin America to per- poverty. Researchers further found that their husbands’ comfort after the new mit abortion when its legislature voted preventing adolescent pregnancies could arrival by making sure there were meals to legalize the procedure. Abortion will reduce government spending on welfare on hand, since husbands are “not good at now be free in public hospitals and avail- programs by between 60 and 72 percent. cooking.” It also suggested that hanging able for any reason through the first 14 South Korea’s Population a dress in a small size somewhere visible weeks of pregnancy. Later procedures Declines for the First Time would encourage new mothers to quickly are still subject to some restrictions. lose their baby weight. Several of the sug- Additionally, in late January, the govern- For the first time in the country’s recorded gestions were removed following public ment announced it would drop criminal history, the population of South Korea outcry. charges against those accused of having has declined from one year to the next. Poland Enacts Near Total abortions prior to the passage of the new Census data found that on December 31, Ban on Abortion law. 2020, there were 51,829,023 people in the country, down 20,838 from the same date In late January, after months of pub- Only three other countries in Latin a year earlier. Births decreased by 10.65 lic protests and calls for repeal, Poland America—Cuba, Guyana, and percent over that period, while deaths enacted a law passed in October 2020 Uruguay—allow abortion without were up by 3.1 percent. The total fertil- banning abortion in cases of fetal abnor- restrictions during the early weeks ity rate stands at 0.9 births per woman, mality. The country already had one of of pregnancy, though the procedure well short of the replacement rate of 2.1. the most restrictive laws in Europe, and remains common throughout the region. Forecasters expect it to fall further. the new measure means that rape, incest, Researchers say that hundreds of thou- and life endangerment are now the only sands of clandestine abortions have Demographers in South Korea have long permissible reasons for abortion. Only taken place every year in Argentina warned of the economic and social con- 1,100 legal terminations were performed alone, and the country’s Health Ministry sequences of an aging population with in 2020, virtually all due to fetal malfor- says that in 2016—the most recent year too few younger workers to support older mations, though women’s rights groups for which data are available—around retirees. The South Korean government have estimated that between 80,000 and 40,000 women were hospitalized for has sought to counter the declining birth 120,000 Polish women seek abortions complications from unsafe abortions. rate in recent years by offering incentives abroad every year. The ruling Law and The Access to Safe Abortion Network, to couples to have more children, but the Justice Party, which has drawn inter- an Argentinian activist group, says that initiatives have seen little success. national criticism for its increasingly at least 65 women died of unsafe abor- autocratic behavior, has championed the tions between 2016 and 2018. popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 7 The President’s Circle is Population Connection’s leadership society, whose members contribute annual gifts of $1,000 or more, providing the ﬁ nancial foundation for our advocacy and RECOGNIZING MEMBERS educational efforts. We are deeply grateful to members of Population Connection’s 2020 OF THE PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE President’s Circle. Your generous support inspires us and propels us forward every day. Thank you!

Marilyn Ackley Michael Bobroff Michael Daffron Keith Frost Eileen Heaser Roger & Dolores Kiel Robert & Kerstin Adams David Bogart Charles Dahl E. Marianne Gabel Robert & Rosemary Heil Elizabeth Kilb Audra Adelberger John Boland Jr. Richard Daly Christen & Ben Garrett Charles Heimstadt & Loretta Brooks Peter & Margaret Killefer Edwin Ahrens Pirkko Borland Gene & Linda Daniels Peter & Jean Ann Garrett June & Cliff Henderson William & Marilyn Kincaid George Ainslie John & Lynne Bosche Eugene Davis Pamela Jo Garrison Donald Henley Philip Kislak Wendy Alcorn Craig Bowman John & Joy Deharpporte Robert Geisler & Mary Schoonover Jane & Dennis Henner Terry Kitson & Paula Sherman Mariette Allen Norma Bradfi sh Robert DeLap & Linda Winsor-DeLap Michael Gendler & Jessica Teich Theodore & Margie Henning Thomas Kleewein Bob & Susan Allen Janice Lee Brannon Jeffrey Dennis Don Gentry Stanley Henshaw Jane Klein Mary & Robert Anderson Jr. Thomas & Marilyn Breckenridge Paul Deutsch Anthony & Laurel Wroten Gilbert Francis Herbert Edward & Susan Klenner Porter Anderson Jr. Ralph & Jane Bristol Elzbet Diaz De Leon & Joe Connett Jean Gilbert Judith Herman Richard Klingele Earl Appel T. Wistar & Emma Brown Ronald & Linne Dodge Duff & Joanne Gillespie Konrad Herman Ralph & Marjorie Koldinger Randall Arnold & Patricia Fair Sally Brunson Martha Dohm James & Lucia Gilliland Richard & Beverly Rae Hermsen Paul & Susan Dugan Konka Patricia & Charles Asmus Judith Buechner Evelyn & Earl Dolven John Gilpin Eric Hildebrandt Melodee Kornacker Janis Augustin John & Mary Burkhart Julian & Katharine Donahue John Giurgevich Dale Hillard James Krasno Kent & Claire Bach Russell & Sally Burmester Ellen Dryer Peter & Cynthia Glasier Arthur Hilsinger Jr. & Barbara Janson Karl & Mary Ann Krause Ginger & Fritz Bachem Glenn & Peggy Calkins Lammot Du Pont David & Alena Goeddel John Hirschi Lenor & William Krome Lee Badger Catherine Cameron Daniel & Victoria Dubina Rolf & Julie Anne Goetze Eric Hirst John Kruse Bill Baird Wayne Camirand Kenneth Dubke Marcy Golde Memphis & Janice Hixson Stephen Kunkel Walter & Donna Bales Jerry Carle Candace Dwan Ira Goldstein & Tessa Flores Gail Whatley Holcomb Peter Kunstadter Ford Ballantyne III & Penny Ballantyne Charles Carpenter Jr. John Dwyer Eva & W. Eugene Goldwater Robin & Annette Holcomb Keith & Patricia Kusunis Anita Baly Candice Carson & George Banker Colleen Eden Robert & Margaret Goodwin Noel & Patricia Holmgren Max Lagally George & Nancy Barker Susan Casentini Donald & Janice Elliott Elmer Leroy Grable Joyce Homan Roy & Leah Lambertson Mary Barkworth Valerie & Lawrence Casey Raff & Loretta Ellis Ileana Grams-Moog Elton & Esther Homan Paul Lampert Jill Barnes John & Theresa Cederholm Daniel & Rae Emmett Julia Gregory Geoffrey Hornsby Jim Lampl Thomas & Mary Bartlett Charles Chapin Thomas Emmons Leora Gregory John Houston & Katherine Read John Largay Carlin Barton Kenneth Chase Herbert & Paula Engel Claire Griffi n Roger Ibbotson Kenneth & Nancy Larner Marie Barton Denny Chiu Joanne Engel & Kenneth Valdes Wayne Grody Gary Jacobson & Martha Blake-Jacobson Dinah Larsen Phoebe Bender Jonathan Claassen Christopher & Joan Ennis Gay Gullickson Robert Janes Brian Larson David Benefi el David & Susan Clark Gale Epstein Carol Guze Richard Jarvis Robert Lawrence Janetha Benson Hilary Clark Don & Nancy Erman Jason Gwinn Jerry Jedlicka Anna & Thomas Lawson Elodie Bentley Melody Clark Nancy Escoffi er Deborah Halliday Gordon Jensen William Layton & Nuria Rodriguez Bill Berg Spencer & Celia Clevenger John Estes III William Handsaker Michael Johns Nancy Leavens Anthony Bernhardt & Lynn Feintech Cindy Cobb Lynn Evans Sheila & Michael Hannah Mark & Laura Johnson David Lent-Bews Kaye Beth C. Lewis & Enid Cocke Thomas & Sarah Faulkner Hildegarde Hannum MaryAnne C. Johnston Kathryn Lenton Marcia McGee Bieber Bruce Colburn James Feit Roberta & Jon Hardacre Muirl & Joyce Johnstone Dorothy & Andy Leong Leslie & William Biggs Clifford Colwell Jr. & Carolyn Colwell Robert Felheim Gary & Stephanie Hargrave Irene Jones SuSu Levy Diane Bigler Janet Conn Celia Felsher Lelia Harriman Paul Kaplan Stephen Lewis & Rachel Myron Roger & Edith Binkley James & Pauletta Copenheaver Jones & Connie Felvey Jessie Harris Rochelle Kaplan Chun Liew Norbert & Inger Bischofberger Gale Corson Eric Filseth & Tina Peak William Harris Richard & Diana Kasper James & Susan Lindsay James Blankenship Walter Crager Barbara Fite Alexandra Harrison Dennis & Joanne Keith Wendell Lindsay Jr. James Blanton Nina Cunningham Gael Fitzmaurice & Fred Dortort Martha Harriss George Kelley Robert Liner Gail Bliss Thomas Curran Gilbert Flanagan Robert Hartman Vicky & Grant Kemp Arthur Lipson & Rochelle Kaplan Diana Bloch Grace & John Curry Joni Flynn Charles Hatton Susan Kennedy Danny Litowitz Cameron Blodgett Christine Curtis Charles & Charlotte Fowler Philip & Jody Hawley Christopher & Kay Kennon Philip Livingston

8 Population Connection — March 2021 The President’s Circle is Population Connection’s leadership society, whose members contribute annual gifts of $1,000 or more, providing the ﬁ nancial foundation for our advocacy and RECOGNIZING MEMBERS educational efforts. We are deeply grateful to members of Population Connection’s 2020 OF THE PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE President’s Circle. Your generous support inspires us and propels us forward every day. Thank you!

popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 9 Richard Pillmore Harriet Shultis Jonathan & Nicole Ungar Organizations Jo Lynn Pine & William Seabridge James Shultz Richard Urell A. Richard Carter Gift Fund John Pitcairn Linda Siecke George Vacek AJH Foundation Barbara Planck John Simonson Gloria Valdespino Alchemy Foundation James Pomeroy Ruth & Alvin Siteman Jonathan Vapnek Anthony Schmidt Family Foundation Stuart Porteous JoAnn Sivley Ruppert David & Christine Vernier BeP EarthWise Foundation Paul Prenovitz Emily Slowinski Thomas Vesey CCS Family Fund-Topeka Community Martin Prince Cherida Collins Smith P. B. Visscher Foundation Laurel Prussing Edwin Thomas Smith & Virginia Phelps David Von Seggern EcoTrust Cory Pulfrey Francis Smith Jr. Arthur Wahl Educational Foundation of America Vivian Pyle Marc & Donna Smith Irene & Robert Wakeland Erik E. & Edith H. Bergstrom Foundation Garrett Quinn Paul Smith & Ellen Scriven Richard & Ann Walker Fischer Family Fund Hesha & John Lohmar Ricardo Moran Joelle Raichle Ross Smith Mary Walter Hitz Foundation Joanna London William & Barbara Morkill Leonard Rappe Robert Solbrig Larry Warren Innovia Foundation Roger Lowen Jane Morris Rebecca Rawls Laura Somerville Sharran & William Warren Janis and Alan Menken Charity Fund Bryan MacPherson & Pamela Van Hine Simona & Jeffrey Morris George Reeke Zig Sondelski Denis & Barbara Webb Jim and Jan Gardner Family Foundation Ernest & Helen Madsen Sandra Moss Donald & Carole Reid George & Maradel Sonnichsen Kenneth Weber Karras Clark Family Trust George & Mary Maenchen Denny Mullen Thomas Reifsnyder Don Spanninga Richard & Susan Weigel Lautman, Maska, Neill & Company Louise Maison Donald & Barbara Munro Paul Reilly Nyasha Spears & Brian Capps Mary Beth Weinberger Living Springs Foundation Marvin Malek Edward Munyak Glenn & Joyce Reynolds Susan Spencer William & Sharon Weisman McBride Family & Aspen Business Norman Mandelbaum Michael Murphy Robert Rietveld Stuart & Shirley Speyer Gene Werden Center Foundation John & Susi Manley Robert Murphy & Anna Shortall Arthur & Jane Riggs Martha & Irwin Spiegelman Richard Wertz McCullough Foundation John & Claire Mannheim Eileen Hogan Murthy J. Rise Mary Sprague & William Hassler Kevin Whaley Michael and Ina Korek Foundation Jeffrey Marcous Jan Musial Deborah & William Roach Cyrus & Joanne Spurlino Wayne Whitmore Mike & Elaine McRory Fund Ben Mares Robert & Caryn McTighe Musil David & Barbara Roberts Edgar Stahl Rankin & Sandra Whittington Nina Abrams Fund Joseph Margevicius & Tracy Fearnside Sacheen Nathan Robert Robinson Jean Stanﬁ eld Jeffrey & Marta Wilde Pack Foundation William & JoJean Marks John Nelson Larry & Alice Rodgers Frank & Penny Starr Louise Wilde Ranae DeSantis Foundation George & Sheila Marshall Kathleen & Alvin Neumann William & Ann Roha Sherman Starr Alan Wilkinson Ruth H. 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10 Population Connection — March 2021 Richard Pillmore Harriet Shultis Jonathan & Nicole Ungar Organizations Jo Lynn Pine & William Seabridge James Shultz Richard Urell A. Richard Carter Gift Fund John Pitcairn Linda Siecke George Vacek AJH Foundation Barbara Planck John Simonson Gloria Valdespino Alchemy Foundation James Pomeroy Ruth & Alvin Siteman Jonathan Vapnek Anthony Schmidt Family Foundation Stuart Porteous JoAnn Sivley Ruppert David & Christine Vernier BeP EarthWise Foundation Paul Prenovitz Emily Slowinski Thomas Vesey CCS Family Fund-Topeka Community Martin Prince Cherida Collins Smith P. B. Visscher Foundation Laurel Prussing Edwin Thomas Smith & Virginia Phelps David Von Seggern EcoTrust Cory Pulfrey Francis Smith Jr. Arthur Wahl Educational Foundation of America Vivian Pyle Marc & Donna Smith Irene & Robert Wakeland Erik E. & Edith H. Bergstrom Foundation Garrett Quinn Paul Smith & Ellen Scriven Richard & Ann Walker Fischer Family Fund Hesha & John Lohmar Ricardo Moran Joelle Raichle Ross Smith Mary Walter Hitz Foundation Joanna London William & Barbara Morkill Leonard Rappe Robert Solbrig Larry Warren Innovia Foundation Roger Lowen Jane Morris Rebecca Rawls Laura Somerville Sharran & William Warren Janis and Alan Menken Charity Fund Bryan MacPherson & Pamela Van Hine Simona & Jeffrey Morris George Reeke Zig Sondelski Denis & Barbara Webb Jim and Jan Gardner Family Foundation Ernest & Helen Madsen Sandra Moss Donald & Carole Reid George & Maradel Sonnichsen Kenneth Weber Karras Clark Family Trust George & Mary Maenchen Denny Mullen Thomas Reifsnyder Don Spanninga Richard & Susan Weigel Lautman, Maska, Neill & Company Louise Maison Donald & Barbara Munro Paul Reilly Nyasha Spears & Brian Capps Mary Beth Weinberger Living Springs Foundation Marvin Malek Edward Munyak Glenn & Joyce Reynolds Susan Spencer William & Sharon Weisman McBride Family & Aspen Business Norman Mandelbaum Michael Murphy Robert Rietveld Stuart & Shirley Speyer Gene Werden Center Foundation John & Susi Manley Robert Murphy & Anna Shortall Arthur & Jane Riggs Martha & Irwin Spiegelman Richard Wertz McCullough Foundation John & Claire Mannheim Eileen Hogan Murthy J. Rise Mary Sprague & William Hassler Kevin Whaley Michael and Ina Korek Foundation Jeffrey Marcous Jan Musial Deborah & William Roach Cyrus & Joanne Spurlino Wayne Whitmore Mike & Elaine McRory Fund Ben Mares Robert & Caryn McTighe Musil David & Barbara Roberts Edgar Stahl Rankin & Sandra Whittington Nina Abrams Fund Joseph Margevicius & Tracy Fearnside Sacheen Nathan Robert Robinson Jean Stanﬁ eld Jeffrey & Marta Wilde Pack Foundation William & JoJean Marks John Nelson Larry & Alice Rodgers Frank & Penny Starr Louise Wilde Ranae DeSantis Foundation George & Sheila Marshall Kathleen & Alvin Neumann William & Ann Roha Sherman Starr Alan Wilkinson Ruth H. Brown Foundation James Allen Marshall & Judy Colligan-Marshall Donald & Sylvia Nevins George Rohrmann & Louise Meadows Theodore Steck & Yvonne Lange Helen Williams Sheldon and Audrey Katz Foundation David Martin & Miriam Lezak Paul & Antje Newhagen William & Sandra Rosen William & Diane Steen Roe & Helene Willis Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Wayne Martinson & Deb Sawyer Rebecca Newland Paul Rosenberger H. Paul Steiger Jr. Sandra Willmon Winery Thornton Matheson Nancy Newman & Donald Lathen Steven & Maren Ross John Steinberg & Jill Pliskin William John Wilson The Bueler Family Trust T. D. Mathewson David Nichols Arnold Rowe Bruce & Julie Steiner Gene Witiak The Dudley Foundation Clark & Sari Maxﬁ eld Martin & Sheila Nickerson Allan & Mearle Roy Ronald Stevens Edward Witten & Chiara Nappi The Gladys & Ralph Lazarus Foundation Nancy Maze Steven Nierlich & Tienne Lee Donald Royer K. Martin Stevenson Linda Wolcott The John and Shirley Nash Foundation Richard McCabe Karen Nixon & Clark Searle Beverly Rubin Allen Stokes Jr. William & Janet Wolvin The Louis and Harold Price Foundation James McClelland & Heidi Feldman Robert & Nita Norman Claudia Ruchar Harriet & Lawrence Stone Marie Jose Woodward The Mary Angiola Foundation Gary McCormick George & Susan Oleyer Milton & Jeanne Saier Jonathan Stone James Worth The Prentice Foundation, Inc. Robert McDonnell Leslie O’Loughlin Kevin & Susan Salisbury Mary Lee Strebl Roger & Ann Marie Worthington The Richard A. Riffel Charitable Foundation Kenneth McKown & Barbara Belanger Helen Olson Nadine & Louis Sapirman Jon & Barbara Stroud S. Paul & Sara Wright The Robert J. Bauer Family Foundation Patricia McQuiddy Randal & K. Lynne Orchekowski Robert Sargent John Stuelpnagel Caryn Wunderlich The Silver Tie Fund Inc. Peter Mele George Orr James Schacht William Swanson Peter Wyble The Suwinski Family Foundation Stan & Cindy Merkin Charles & Doris Lee Owen Henry Scherer Jr. Susan Talbot Georgiana Yap Weshnak Family Foundation John Mesching Neela Patel Daryl Scherkenbach & Susan Zerwick John Taylor Judith Zaccone Jeff Messerschmidt Mary & Mel Pearlman Eric Schindler David & Eudora Tharp Ellen Zaroff Rosalie Migas Jana Pellusch Robert & Elizabeth Schlechter Marjorie Thomas Anne-Marie Ziegler Charles Keith Miller Thomas Peterson Paul & Bethany Schroeder Victor & Lizbeth Thomas Christopher Miller Jeffrey & Joan Petertil Rex & Kathy Seeley Stuart & Tiffany Thompson JoAnne Miller Bob Pettapiece Joanne Senders Kay Thornton Kristie Miller Frank & Judy Pezzanite Marty Shannon Suzanne Thweatt If you’d like to join the President’s Circle, or believe you Frederick Millhiser Sue Phelps Judith Shappee Jerry Tigges should be recognized as a 2020 member and don’t see Todd Minsk Michael Philips H. Rodney Sharp III Barbara & Donald Tober your name, please contact Jennifer Lynaugh at jennifer@ Paul & Barbara Moe Margaret Phillips Timothy Sherck Karen Tsuchiya popconnect.org. Thank you for your support! Russell & Illa Moffett Robert Pickering Michael Shoop & Joyce Prudden Alma Tuchman Dian Moore Delano & Norma Pierce Joseph Shreve Theodore & Mary Tyler

popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 11 VIRTUAL EVENTS FOR OUR MEMBERS By Natalie Widel, Director of Digital Marketing

Our Membership Relations team is rolling into 2021 with a whole slate of virtual events planned to help our members learn more about population issues, connect with one another, and stay engaged with Population Connection.

FILM SCREENING, PANEL DISCUSSION, and book club!

or our first event of the year, we screened Terry Spahr’s new documentary film, 8 Billion Angels. Participants had several days to watch the hour-long feature “on- demand,” culminating with a panel discussion hosted by FCommunications Manager Hannah Evans. Filmmaker (and Population Connection member!) Terry Spahr took part, as did member, activist, and PopEd trainer (whew!) Kelley Dennings, who is the Population and Sustainability Campaigner for Center for Biological Diversity.

Nearly 750 people signed up to screen the film, and 100 joined us for the live panel event. Due to the incredible popularity of Our Membership Relations team will be hosting a number this screening and the positive reviews we received, we will plan of virtual events in April to celebrate Earth Day. Please visit to host a second screening of this film later in the year. popconnect.org/EarthDay to join in!

We also kicked off the “Population Connection Page Turners” We encourage you to contact us at [email protected] book club! Marian Starkey, Population Connection magazine with questions on how to join any of our events, as well as to editor and Vice President for Communications, led a discussion offer your own ideas for future events. We hope to see you virtu- on our first book of the year: Matthew Yglesias’ contentiousOne ally in 2021! Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger. Stay tuned for future book club opportunities.

12 Population Connection — March 2021 President’s Circle Member Profile: JoAnn Sivley Ruppert

By Shauna Scherer, Vice President for Marketing and Development, and Lee Polansky, Senior Director of Executive Initiatives and Special Projects

ver the thoughtful individual, JoAnn Sivley Ruppert thought long and hard (for several decades!) before she took the leap and became a member of Population Connection. Not only that, she joined the President’s ECircle of particularly generous donors.

We asked JoAnn, “After all those years of following the organization, why did you ultimately join us?” She said that she had long been aware of the problems arising from rapid population growth. For many years, while she lived in Virginia and California, she worked with children in foster care and assisted Freedom Service Dogs of Denver, Colorado, an organization with adoptions. She’d “seen children who weren’t wanted, who that provides dogs to children and adults with autism, traumatic were abused, neglected, or just abandoned emotionally. Having brain injury, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, muscular dystro- kids is the hardest job anybody ever has, if they do it right.” And, phy, multiple sclerosis, and post-traumatic stress. she added, “It’s been part of my thinking for 40 to 50 years” that people are obligated to help others make the right choices for These days, JoAnn’s philanthropy focuses on Population themselves and their families. Connection, as well as Planned Parenthood and Rocky Mountain Conservancy. She’s also working closely with Compassion & JoAnn began to read more about climate change and started “to Choices in New Mexico to help pass the state’s Death with get truly serious about that.” She said “it was one more thing that Dignity Act. JoAnn is all about personal choices, saying that was important to me about population growth.” She read many “death with dignity” is yet “another issue where choice should books on the topic, but Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction: be available to people.” And, she added, “At this point in my An Unnatural History made the biggest impression. “Even though life, being able to contribute to the causes that I feel so strongly I don’t have kids, I love this planet, and I want it to continue to be about is such a gift.” the beautiful place that we’re experiencing in our lives.” We’d like to extend our thanks to JoAnn for her generosity and JoAnn, who has a psychology background, and her husband, Steve, dedication to our mission, as both a member of our President’s a geologist, live in New Mexico. They enjoy traveling abroad and Circle and our ZPG Society—a legacy society honoring the especially appreciate putting JoAnn’s French to work in France. commitment of those who include Population Connection in She’s been lucky to join Steve on his geological research cruises their will or trust. We’re truly fortunate that JoAnn jumped on to China and Peru with the University of Hawaii’s Institute board with us last year, and we deeply appreciate her dedication of Geophysics. They have also enjoyed visiting the Galapagos to achieving our mission. Islands, Mexico, Canada, and many parts of Europe. If you’d like to learn more about making an investment JoAnn and Steve enjoy the unusual hobby of mushroom hunt- in Population Connection’s programs, please contact us at ing—so much so, that they named one of their three dogs [email protected]. Chanterelle, which is a delicious wild mushroom that’s often yel- low or golden colored. Halle and Remy complete their Labrador Retriever family. One of JoAnn’s Labs was expecting a litter of puppies when we spoke—JoAnn planned to donate one pup to

popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 13 "You Can't Just Remove the Damage of the Last Four Years" Reproductive rights groups cautiously welcome Biden’s reversal of Trump’s abortion access restrictions By Kara Fox and Nicole Gaouette | Originally published by CNN on January 30, 2021

14 Population Connection — March 2021 more than four years, countries that rely on American foreign aid have been reeling from For the profound impact that Donald Trump’s reinstatement of the Mexico City policy has had on women. The policy, known as the “Global Gag Rule” among opponents, prevents non- government organizations that provide abortions, give counseling about abortions, or advocate for safe access to abortion from receiving U.S. funding.

But while the policy is meant to stop abortions, research shows that it has the opposite effect—and with deadly consequences for women. One 2019 study published in The Lancet found that during previous periods when the policy was in effect, abortions increased by 40 percent compared to periods where it was rescinded, contraceptive use dropped by 13.5 percent, and pregnancies rose by 12 percent.

On [ January 28], U.S. President Joe Biden rescinded the policy through a presidential memorandum, with reproductive rights advocates hailing it as a victory for the health and lives of women, girls, and [all] people who can become pregnant. During a signing ceremony in the Oval Office, Biden said the move will “reverse my predecessor’s attack on women’s health access.” He added that the measure “relates to protecting women’s health at home and abroad, and it reinstates the changes that were made to Title X (a family planning program that prohibits federal funds from being used for abortions) and other things making it harder for women to have access to affordable health care as it relates to their reproductive rights.”

While the announcement has been welcomed by women’s rights groups and their advocates, and they are working toward a permanent repeal, they stress that the collateral damage of the Trump-era policy is vast, and that it will take more than just an announcement to rebuild entire health systems fractured by the policy. That’s because while previous incarna- tions of the rule under other Republican presidents primarily targeted family planning programs, Trump’s supersized version (the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy) impacted a wide spectrum of U.S. funded health programs, spanning from HIV/AIDS prevention and Above: President Joe Biden, with treatment to malaria, tuberculosis, food, water, and sanitation programs. Vice President Kamala Harris, signs a memorandum rescinding the Global In 2019, Trump took that policy a step further, announcing the with- Gag Rule, in the Oval Office of the White House, on January 28, 2021. drawal of funding from any organization that provides funding to other (Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty groups that carry out abortions or discuss abortions with their clients. Images) In total, the Trump administration’s expansion of the rule increased the amount of money affected by the policy by nearly 20-fold, from approxi- mately $600 million to an estimated $12 billion.

popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 15 Melvine Ouyo and Stacie Murphy, Population Connection could not coordinate openly,” Ouyo said, Director of Congressional explaining that she believes the groups Relations, before meeting with who did accept the policy’s conditions members of Congress during Capitol Hill Days in 2018 were concerned about losing funding. (Photo: Bill Petros) A United States Agency for International Development (USAID) spokesperson told CNN in November that “When a foreign NGO declines to agree to the (Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance) policy, USAID transi- tions the activities that NGO would have undertaken, with U.S. funding, to other partners, while minimizing any disruption of care.” However, a State Department review from August 2020 found that the policy did disrupt some efforts to treat tuberculosis and HIV/ AIDS and to deliver nutritional assistance, among other programs.

Ouyo said that the policy created a “chilling” effect not just in Kenya but across many other countries in Africa. “It cre- The loss of that funding cannot be over- after the policy was reinstated, MSI’s ated misunderstanding and lack of trust stated, according to organizations who outreach locations and services across and made it hard for civil society groups refused to comply with Trump’s policy. Zimbabwe were slashed in half, shut- to work in partnership,” she said. tering reproductive health access for MSI Reproductive Choices, a global millions of disadvantaged women living Ouyo also detailed another unexpected non-profit that provides family planning in the country’s most remote areas. It’s a outcome of the policy: self-censorship. advice and sexual health services, is one scenario that has been unfolding across Organizations that accepted the condi- of them. The group said in a 2020 report many parts of Africa, he said, and one tions of the rule have declined to speak that they lost $30 million in funding, that will take time to repair. “You can’t openly about its impact out of concerns money that over the course of Trump’s just remove the damage of the last four that it could jeopardize future funding term they say would have served an years,” Shibru said. “It will take time.” from USAID, she said. It’s an effect that estimated 8 million women with fam- has turned back the clock on reproduc- ily planning services that would have A ‘Chilling’ Effect tive rights and has halted the flow of prevented an estimated 6 million unin- Melvine Ouyo, a Nairobi-based repro- information about reproductive rights tended pregnancies, 1.8 million unsafe ductive health nurse and former clinic across the globe, even in countries where abortions, and 20,000 maternal deaths. director at Family Health Options abortion is legal. Kenya, agrees, explaining that the effects MSI Reproductive Choices’ Ethiopia of the policy didn’t just damage maternal In Nepal, the legalization of abortion country director Abebe Shibru, who was health, but also impacted services includ- in 2002 is tied to a dramatic drop in the country director for MSI Zimbabwe ing malaria, HIV, and sanitation—and maternal mortality. But research by the during most of Trump’s term, said drove a wedge between crucial health International Women’s Health Coalition the policy “undermined the rights of partnerships, as groups that accepted (IWHC), which promotes reproductive women to exercise their rights to repro- the policy’s conditions became wary of health rights, found the rule had threat- ductive health.” Shibru told CNN that contact with groups that did not. “They ened to reverse those gains. In IWHC’s

16 Population Connection — March 2021 2019 “Crisis in Care” report, which doc- And the longer that it takes for those Melvine Ouyo, a umented the impact of the policy with lines of communication to reopen, the their partners in Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, longer that stigmatization and secrecy Nairobi-based and South Africa, a managing direc- around services could linger. “Policies reproductive tor of a Global Gag Rule-compliant like this single out abortion and take it organization in Nepal said that as their out of health care—and silo and subject health nurse and workers provided counseling services, it to criteria that are based on ideology people would sometimes try to speak and not based on health best practices,” former clinic with them about abortion, but “in such Doorley said. director at Family cases, we tell our staff to tell them that they don’t know anything about Doorley explained the knock-on effect of Health Options it”—even though abortion is legal on a the policy on health care networks. A lot national level and that staff might know of organizations that have lost funding Kenya [explains] about safe places to access the service. under the policy have had to close clinics that the effects that were often the only easily accessible And that’s the intended result of the clinic for an entire community. Those of the policy Mexico City Policy’s so-called “gag,” people currently have increased barriers reproductive health advocates say. The to access, given that they need to travel didn’t just damage rule impedes the ability to share knowl- to another place to reach a clinic—which maternal health, edge about the legal status of abortion isn’t always financially or logistically pos- and how to access safe abortion services sible. Plus, the clinics that are still open but also impacted through public health systems, with the might also be facing financial difficulties services including consequence often resulting in people as a result of the policy and have, in turn, turning to unsafe abortion practices, laid off staff or dropped other services. malaria, HIV, reproductive rights groups and research- This can all add to the overall reduc- ers say. One lawyer said in the IWHC tion of availability and quality of care for and sanitation— report that in South Africa—where multiple communities, she said. “They and drove a abortion is also legal, but can be difficult (the Mexico City policy and subsequent to access—that the policy “just makes a expansions of the policy) increase stigma, wedge between service that was already inaccessible even they single it out and they put it separate more inaccessible.” from everything else,” Doorley added, crucial health explaining that clinics build up trust the partnerships, Now that the rule has been rescinded, longer they are in a community. If that communicating about safe abortion relationship is severed by the provider as groups that practices can resume, but being able to closing, which many have had to do accepted the do so quickly—and effectively—with due to lack of funding under the policy, local partners on the ground will be key, Doorley said, “you can’t just reopen the policy’s conditions said Nina Besser Doorley, Associate clinic, you can’t just rehire the staff. It Director of Advocacy and Policy at the takes time to reestablish presences and became wary IWHC. Doorley explained that when communities to rehire staff to rebuild the of contact with policy changes in the U.S., “it can be very trust of their relationships, and all of that slow to sort of filter its way out into the it’s way harder to do.” groups that did field. … So it’s really critical that as the policy is rescinded, that it’s also clearly A U.S. congressional aide who works on not. communicated out. That’s one other global health issues agreed, telling CNN thing I’d say is that this is a long-term this week that “the tail of the Global problem. And it really leads to long term Gag is very long,” and that “it’s not a effects,” she said. matter of flipping a switch and suddenly popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 17 women … have access to care they didn’t enacted in 1973 and bars the use of U.S. authoritarian governments and anti- have before.” That is one of the reasons foreign aid for performing abortions, not abortion groups that are still focused why women’s reproductive rights groups just to foreign non-profits, but to gov- on dismantling any gains that women’s are calling on the Biden administration ernments, multilateral organizations, and reproductive rights movement have to take a step further. U.S. non-profits. made, despite the Global Gag Rule, Avila-Guillen says. Playing With Women’s Schakowsky also noted the dispropor- Rights tionate impact the Mexico City Policy She points to Honduras—where Paula Avila-Guillen, Executive Director and the Helms rule have on poor women abortion is banned under any circum- at the Women’s Equality Center in New of color, saying that “these policies are stance—[which] ratified a new law into York, has joined a chorus of human rights clearly founded in racism that these its constitution on [ January 28] that now defenders who are calling on Biden to women, these struggling women around makes abortion reform nearly impossible. permanently repeal the rule so that it the world, mostly Black and brown, would The legislation, which also prohibits leg- cannot be reinstated by the next presi- not be able to have access to abortion.” islating for equal marriage in the country, dent, noting that as the policy has been was backed by Honduran President Juan reinstated and rescinded along political Even with these efforts to reverse or end Orlando Hernández’s ruling party, who party lines since its inception in 1984, it the policies, Avila-Guillen said the dam- was recognized by Trump’s administra- has left the lives of some of the world’s age of the Trump legacy will take time to tion as the winner of a widely disputed most vulnerable people hanging in the undo. “But what the Trump administra- election in 2017 that the Organization balance of who holds the keys to the tion did was take one step further—a few of American States said was marred with White House. “What we have seen over steps forward—and only emboldened irregularities that called the results into the years is a kind of political play with governments with overarching politi- question. women’s rights globally, by the Democrat cal power to try to restrict women and and Republican parties,” Avila-Guillen girls, as opposed to any type of equality The move demonstrates the values that told CNN. in general.” the Trump administration placed on women and girls, she said, explaining Lawmakers and advocates are now In October, the Trump administration that its support for the Honduras gov- working to put a stop to that. On aimed to seal its commitment to a global ernment—one that has long dismissed [ January 28], Senator Jeanne Shaheen, fight against abortion rights access, joining the safety and rights of women and girls, a New Hampshire Democrat, re-intro- a group of largely repressive governments given that Honduras is one of the most duced the Global HER Act, a bill to in co-sponsoring an international non- dangerous places to be a woman—is just permanently repeal the gag rule*. In the binding declaration that states there is one example. “A lot of the political state- U.S. House, Illinois Democratic Rep. “no international right to abortion, nor ments of the Trump administration were Jan Schakowsky has written legisla- any international obligation on the part saying to these governments that it was tion to repeal the Helms Amendment, of States to finance or facilitate abortion.” ok to enact harsher laws, it was ok not which remains in effect regardless of the to care about women and girls,” Avila- party in power. Schakowsky’s Abortion The Biden administration said on Guillen said. is Health Care Everywhere Act was [ January 28] that it intends to with- introduced into Congress last year, and draw co-sponsorship and its signature She believes that it will take time to fully she will re-introduce that same bill in from the declaration, but it’s an example understand the impact that this version February**. The Helms Amendment was of how Trump’s tenure has emboldened of the Global Gag Rule—and the wider impact that the Trump administration’s rhetoric—has had on global gender * A companion bill was introduced in the House by Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Ami Bera (D-CA), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) on the same day. The Senate bill equality. “Until we know how far back number is S. 142, and the House bill number is H.R. 556. we went, we won’t know how many steps forward we need to take to catch up,” she **At the time of our print deadline (February 17), the bill had not yet been re- said. introduced.

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TO LEARN MORE CALL OR VISIT US ONLINE 855-500-7433 • careasy.org/nonprofit/population-connection popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 19 Trump Left International Abortion Rights in Shambles, Activists Say. Can Biden Undo the Damage?

Biden vowed to repeal the Global Gag Rule, but Trump’s “anti- woman rhetoric” isn’t necessarily going away.

By Urooba Jamal | Originally published by The Lily, a product of The Washington Post, on January 19, 2021

Melvine Ouyo speaks to Capitol Hill Days participants in Washington, DC, in 2018 (Photo: Bill Petros)

20 Population Connection — March 2021 n 2019, Melvine Ouyo, a health policy expert and reproductive rights activist, attended a conference in her city of Nairobi, where antiabortion Media Hits campaigners were protesting the event. Shortly after that, Ouyo said, she We were in touch with many media met a pregnant 14-year-old girl who had no information about how she could outlets leading up to and in the I wake of President Biden’s repeal access a safe abortion if she chose. of the Global Gag Rule. We were successful in connecting several of Ouyo said she believes that if the Trump administration’s Global Gag Rule—a our international partners—Melvine U.S. foreign aid policy that restricts funding for abortion-related services—had Ouyo, Dr. Rodrigo Barillas, and Dr. not been in place, the campaigners wouldn’t have had such a prominent plat- Tlaleng Mofokeng—with journalists form, and the girl would have had more information about her reproductive who wanted to speak with health health options. care providers impacted by the last administration’s expanded Global Gag Rule. And speaking on “The country has recorded a high number of teenage pregnancies,” Ouyo said behalf of Population Connection of the last few years. She added that this increase, coupled with restrictions Action Fund, Brian Dixon, our on abortion funding, has forced more girls in Kenya to drop out of school or Senior Vice President for Media seek unsafe abortion options, sometimes leading to deaths. “And this has been and Government Relations, and worsened by the current pandemic situation,” she said. Stacie Murphy, our Director of Congressional Relations, were interviewed by several reporters as While abortion access was widened in Kenya in 2010, it largely remains illegal, well. and many low-income women and girls cannot afford it at private facilities where it is more easily available. About 2,600 women and girls die each year in We are sharing two of the articles Kenya as a result of unsafe abortions, higher than the global average. that heavily quoted our partners in this issue of our magazine. The one that begins on this page In the last four years, clinics in the country have lost crucial funding, forcing was published in the days before many to shut down or offer fewer services. Advocates say that is the impact President Biden rescinded the worldwide—not just in Kenya—of the Global Gag Rule. The Reagan-era Global Gag Rule. The previous article policy has forced organizations to choose between forgoing providing abor- that began on page 14 was written tion-related services or losing U.S. aid vital to their existence. in the days following Biden’s repeal of the heinous policy.

And while every Republican president since Reagan implemented the Global We are proud that we were able Gag Rule, Trump’s expansion was unprecedented: It went from applying to to contribute to the conversation only family planning funding, amounting to around $600 million a year, to around this welcome and necessary affecting all U.S. foreign aid—about $9 billion a year. This has impacted fund- policy reversal, and we look forward to working with the Biden ing for health programs aimed at combating everything from HIV to malaria. administration in the years to come to expand access to voluntary family “As a front-line provider, as an activist on the ground, the Global Gag Rule has planning to everyone, everywhere. really had devastating impacts,” said Ouyo, who formerly worked for the family planning [organization] Family Health Options Kenya. “It was not easy for Below is a list of media outlets that published articles featuring us individuals, organizations, as well as even the government, to contain the kind and/or our partners about Biden of impact that has been felt on the ground.” rescinding the Global Gag Rule:

President-elect Joe Biden has promised to repeal the Global Gag Rule as one • CNN • Devex of his first acts in office. He is also slated to undo other Trump-era policies, • elDiario.es including restoring funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), • Politico (two articles) the world’s largest provider of reproductive health care, as well as repealing the • The Independent Helms Amendment, which restricts U.S. foreign aid for abortion. Abortion • The Lily rights advocates on the ground are hopeful about these changes—even though they say they’re still reeling from the effects of Trump’s policies. popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 21 According to Riva Eskinazi, director of strategic partnerships and development at the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the organization “lost about $100 million in global health assistance from the U.S. over the four years of the Trump administration, in over 32 countries in Latin America, sub- Saharan Africa, and South Asia.”

Last year, the U.S. government’s watch- dog agency found that there was $12 billion in gagged funds across 1,300 global health grants in more than 70 countries. And on the ground, the policies have been potentially deadly: A 2019 report from the International Women’s Health Coalition found that the Global Gag Rule is “killing women worldwide.”

Ouyo has also had the opportunity to see the impact in other parts of Africa, including Uganda and Tanzania, where she said the situation is just as dire.

In South Africa, for example, despite abortion being legal, the Global Gag Rule has still managed to have an effect.

“For us in South Africa, the impact of the global gag was already felt with George W. Bush’s presidency,” said Tlaleng Mofokeng, a physician and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health. She explained that at that time the HIV crisis was at its peak in South Africa, and organizations battling it largely relied on U.S. aid. In Above: Brian Dixon, Senior Vice President for Media and Government Relations, addresses participants at Capitol Hill Days in 2018 (Photo: Bill Petros) Opposite: Dr. Tlaleng turn, if family planning organizations Mofokeng gives the keynote speech at Capitol Hill Days in 2018 (Photo: Bill Petros) refused to sign on to the Global Gag Rule, their STI prevention services were “There’s just been enormous damage Dixon explained that other countries undermined as a result of the loss of U.S. done to global health infrastructure have tried to step in to fill some of the funding. around the world when the biggest United States’ funding gaps, but they donor puts these kinds of restrictions,” have been unable to match the losses as a In other words, she said, Trump’s expan- said Brian Dixon of the progressive result of Trump’s policies. sion of the gag rule happened “in a advocacy group Population Connection fractured system. And that’s why it was Action Fund (PCAF). challenging and more catastrophic.”

22 Population Connection — March 2021 Specifically, Mofokeng said, Trump’s these programs, and must sign on to army blocked their entry; the workers expanded policies have led to health data the Global Gag Rule to access any U.S. had arrived to administer abortions to and research gaps, as well as added to the funding in the first place, she added. Guatemalan women by taking them to stigma around abortion. Because wom- international waters, where local laws do en’s rights organizations also receive U.S. In regions like Latin America—where, not apply. They would have given doses aid, she said, the lack of funding has also for the most part, abortion is very of mifepristone and misoprostol, drugs contributed to re-victimizing women restrict[ed]—the Global Gag Rule and that induce abortions. who face sexual or physical violence. related policies have also had negative impacts that are not as widely discussed, Misoprostol also helps stop postpar- “All of these failures are enabled by the according to activists. tum hemorrhages. However, because of global gag because the same govern- its associated use with abortion, it was ment that is in charge of providing safe In 2017, a Dutch abortion rights non- unable to be used for that purpose in abortion is the same government that profit, Women on Waves, attempted Guatemala shortly after Trump’s expan- outsources [their work to] NGOs,” she to land on the shores of Guatemala, sion of the Global Gag Rule. said. These nonprofit groups are sup- where abortion is illegal except to save ported by foreign aid to implement a [pregnant person’s] life. Guatemala’s

popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 23 “In a country where maternal mortality is … the [antiabortion] opposition which still high, [this] was a huge impact for the has been so well-funded globally through country,” said Rodrigo Barillas, executive the U.S.” director of WINGS Guatemala, a reproductive rights nonprofit organization. In Guatemala, Barillas has witnessed something similar with the recent vote to Barillas explained that in recent years, legalize abortion in Argentina: Although highly educated staff in clinics across the pro-choice movement in Guatemala the country have been laid off because was emboldened by the win and cele- of funding cuts, and pregnancies of girls brated the news, the far-right opposition and teens in the country—usually as a has also become more staunch in its result of rape—have continued to soar. stance, he said.

Across the world in South Asia, stag- Many advocates are in unanimous agree- gered access to abortion services has ment, however, that Trump’s departure is been made worse because of Trump’s a welcome shift for international repro- policies, according to Deepesh Gupta, ductive rights. who is in charge of nine countries in the subcontinent as senior technical adviser Both IPPF and PCAF are work- for [IPPF]. ing toward permanent repeal of the Global Gag Rule, advocating for this “Advocates were already struggling to do to happen through the Global Health, this sort of work,” he said, adding that Empowerment, and Rights (HER) Act. it was surprising the gag rule impacted In July 2020, Democrats in the U.S. countries where abortion is legal, for House also introduced the Abortion similar reasons as in South Africa. is Health Care Everywhere Act to repeal the Helms Amendment. With “We were not allowed to use of any kind a Democrat-controlled Congress and of funding, even if we [just used the presidency, advocates are hopeful sub- word] abortion,” he said. stantive change could be coming.

Kalpana Apte, secretary general of the Dixon said the time is ripe to take Family Planning Association of India, these issues outside the realm of “par- has seen firsthand its impact in India. tisan football,” with Democrats like In an email statement to The Lily, she Biden promising to repeal the rule and said that in addition to reduced mate- Republicans promising to reinstall it. rial resources, it also impacted mindsets around abortion, adding to its stigma. “Another president is going to be elected someday; it might be a conservative, and Advocates say the far-reaching conse- we want to make sure they can’t just quences of these policies may persist reimpose the gag rule again,” he said. even after Biden’s inauguration.

“Trump’s anti-woman rhetoric and legacy

will certainly continue in some countries Right: Rodrigo Barillas, MD, Executive like Brazil, or Egypt or Indonesia,” said Director of WINGS Guatemala and Eskinazi, of [IPPF]. “So that’s another member of Population Connection Board piece that we have to watch very closely of Directors (Photo: Lisa Shannon)

24 Population Connection — March 2021 popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 25 w

ie As Biden and Harris Take Over the White House,

V McConnell Surrenders Control of the Senate By Stacie Murphy, Director of Congressional Relations ashington W

n January 20, President Joseph The measure revoked the Global Gag general election, both races went to a R. Biden and Vice President Rule and ordered government agencies runoff. On January 5, Democrats Jon Kamala D. Harris were sworn to immediately begin informing grant- Ossoff and Raphael Warnock won those Ointo office. The Trump era is officially ees that the restrictions have been lifted. races, defeating Republicans David over, and though repairing the damage It also set in motion a process to rein- Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively. remains a herculean task, the new state the U.S. contribution to the United Their wins mean the Senate now has administration wasted no time in getting Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), a 50-50 split between Democrats and started. which had been halted under Trump, Republicans. (Senators Angus King of and withdrew the U.S. from the so-called Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont Biden Takes Executive Action Geneva Consensus Declaration, a United are registered Independents; both cau- on Reproductive Health Nations initiative largely driven by the cus with the Democrats). With Vice Only hours after his inauguration, Trump administration that promotes a President Kamala Harris presiding over President Biden signed an order freezing narrow, anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ view that body and ready to break any ties, all pending regulatory changes begun of human rights. Additionally, the mem- Democrats are officially in control, mak- by the Trump administration. Included orandum instructed the Department of ing Chuck Schumer (D-NY) the new among them was a last-minute attempt Health and Human Services (HHS) Senate Majority Leader. The implica- to further expand the Global Gag Rule to begin the process of reviewing the tions for reproductive health and rights by applying it to USAID contracts, so-called Domestic Gag Rule, a Trump are positive, though not as straightfor- which comprise some 40 percent of administration rule which has severely ward as they might seem. Though there the agency’s family planning initiatives. restricted the Title X program since the is now effectively no risk of hostile legis- Advocates had been worried that Trump rule went into effect in 2019. Because lation moving forward, several members allies would manage to push the final the rule was finalized and implemented, on each side have mixed records, par- rule through before the end of his term, it cannot be undone by executive action ticularly on abortion access, meaning which would have made it more compli- alone. It will have to go through a regula- affirmative progress on some aspects of cated and time-consuming for the Biden tory process that will take, at a minimum, our agenda remains a challenge. administration to unwind. Fortunately, several months to be completed. the Trump administration ran out of Proactive Bills Reintroduced, time before it could complete the pro- Georgia Runoff Outcome With More to Come cess, and we expect the proposed rule to Leaves Senate Split On the same day President Biden repealed be scrapped. Control of the White House was decided the Global Gag Rule, champions in both in November, but the Senate took a lit- the Senate and the House reintroduced On January 28, President Biden signed tle longer. When no candidate in either the Global Health, Empowerment, and a second executive memorandum more of the two Georgia Senate races won Rights (HER) Act (S. 142/H.R. 556). explicitly focused on reproductive rights. an outright majority in the November As in previous years, Jeanne Shaheen

26 Population Connection — March 2021 (D-NH) leads the bill in the Senate, The Global HER Act has 45 co- to medication abortion during the pan- while in the House, Democrats Barbara sponsors in the Senate, including demic by refusing to waive a Food and Lee (CA), Jan Schakowsky (IL), and Republicans Susan Collins (ME) and Drug Administration (FDA) rule that Ami Bera (CA) have taken over from Lisa Murkowski (AK), and 173 co-spon- requires patients to pick up the drugs Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), who retired sors—all Democrats—in the House. in-person at a hospital or clinic. Waivers at the end of the previous term. Despite were issued for other drugs with similar President Biden’s repeal of the Global The Global HER Act is not the only safety profiles. The American College Gag Rule, passing the Global HER Act proactive bill we expect to see reintro- of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is still vital, since it is the only way to duced over the next few months. Rep. (ACOG), along with other groups, ensure that the Global Gag Rule can- Jan Schakowsky plans to reintroduce the argued in court that this requirement not return with a future administration. Abortion is Health Care Everywhere unjustifiably exposed patients to the risk Senator Shaheen highlighted that reality Act to repeal the Helms Amendment, of contracting COVID-19 and thus con- when she reintroduced the bill, saying: which, since 1973, has prohibited the use stituted an undue burden on their rights. of U.S. foreign assistance funds for abor- A federal judge in Maryland agreed and We know how detrimental this policy tion care overseas. That bill is currently issued an injunction. The Trump admin- has been—how it likely contributed expected to be reintroduced in March. istration sought to have the injunction to increased maternal deaths, unsafe We also expect there will be a compan- stayed. After some additional legal wran- abortions, and compromised access to ion bill in the Senate, though details on gling, the Supreme Court sided with the critical care. Rescinding this rule is the sponsorship and timing are still pending. Trump administration on January 12. start but it is not enough—there needs Additionally, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan Only Chief Justice John Roberts offered to be a permanent fix. That is why (D-PA) plans to reintroduce the proac- any insight into the decision, stating the today I will reintroduce my bipartisan tive Support UNFPA Funding Act. courts owed deference to the government bill, the Global HER Act. The Global in its response to a public health crisis. HER Act would permanently repeal Supreme Court Greenlights Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, this policy so women and their fami- Abortion Pill Restrictions and Stephen Breyer have indicated that lies around the world can trust that In mid-January, the Supreme Court, in they would not have approved the stay. they will have access to reproductive its first abortion-related case since the In the matter of this particular restric- medical services and so international late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was tion, the underlying issue is likely to organizations on the frontlines can replaced by the more conservative Justice be moot. It is probable that the Biden carry out their missions to deliver Amy Coney Barrett, sent a worrying sig- administration will extend the waiver care without worrying if they’ll have nal about its willingness to consider future to cover abortion medications. But the to choose between limiting care for abortion restrictions. In an unsigned, decision should be a warning to repro- patients or losing funding. Enough is unexplained order, the Court allowed ductive rights advocates about what is to enough. the federal government to restrict access come. popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 27 Thanks to the #Fight4HER Activists Who Helped During Our Four-Year Resistance!

utreach By Lindsay Apperson, National Field Manager & O ield F

Kyrah Hughley Katie Yeager he new president and new Congress are quickly working to restore access to reproductive healthT care in the U.S. and around the world. President Biden repealed the Global Gag Rule, restored funding to UNFPA, and took steps to dismantle the Title X Domestic Gag Rule. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) re-introduced the Global HER Act in the Senate and House, respectively. We’re closer than ever before to permanently repealing the Global Gag Rule! Last summer, I participated in the I started volunteering with Summer of HER, and it just about #Fight4HER when I met some can- As we celebrate our wins, we’re thankful changed my life. Since the fellowship vassers on campus my freshman year. to the people who got us to this moment. ended, I have continued to phone bank I had never heard about the Global Over the past four years, over 56,000 and attend National Volunteer Calls. I Gag Rule before then, so I became #Fight4HER activists have taken action love this work, and I will continue to determined to contribute to the fight to push back against attempts to roll back do it because it is the 21st century and for reproductive rights. Since then, I’ve access to comprehensive reproductive women’s bodies are still being policed. served as Vice President and President health care worldwide. Hundreds of vol- Women have proved that we are cre- for our club here at the University of unteers across the country did the hard ative, innovative, and educated and Colorado Denver and have partici- work of organizing their communities that we should be treated as equals. pated in Capitol Hill Days. It’s been around our bold agenda on reproductive Until then, I will continue being a inspiring to be around so many pas- rights and health, hosting high visibility leader in the #Fight4HER to educate sionate individuals and contribute to events, attending our annual Capitol Hill myself and others and amplify the real legislative and social change. I Days conference and Summer of HER voices of people around the world who can’t wait to see what’s next for me and program, and holding their elected offi- need access to comprehensive health #Fight4HER! cials accountable. Our volunteer leaders care. are the backbone of our campaign. Here are just four of the wonderful volunteers who helped build momentum and get us to where we are today.

28 Population Connection — March 2021 Ranjana Iyer Liz Boucher

Sign our petition to your members of Congress to urge them to become cosponsors of the Global HER Act (or to thank them if they are already cosponsors): p2a.co/4D75CyP

Last summer, I was a #Fight4HER I am a 34-year-old New Hampshire Of course, we still have a lot of work to fellow in Tucson, and I have contin- resident, wife, and mother of two do. Although President Biden repealed ued my work with the campaign in young girls who became involved with the Global Gag Rule, the next presi- California. I have always been pas- #Fight4HER as a 2020 Summer of dent could impose the policy again with sionate about women’s rights and HER fellow. After volunteering for a just the stroke of a pen. No one person empowering women. During the fel- Democratic presidential campaign, I should be able to determine access to lowship, I got to learn about different knew I needed to keep the momentum reproductive health care for millions of forms of outreach like relational orga- going. I believe in fighting for HER people around the world. nizing, phone banking, and talking because, globally, empowering women to people with similar and different leads to a healthier and safer world. I We’re looking forward to continuing views. I had the opportunity to lobby am proud that NH’s very own Senator working alongside our volunteer leaders my congressman to thank him for his Jeanne Shaheen is the primary sponsor to pass the Global HER Act to per- support of reproductive rights and of the Global HER Act in the Senate, manently repeal the Global Gag Rule, health. I think it’s so important and and I enjoy supporting her efforts. ensuring that no future president can exciting to now make sure we pass As a woman, mother, and health care unilaterally reinstate it ever again. the Global HER Act to put a perma- provider, I continue to be insulted by nent end to the Global Gag Rule and political interference in reproductive to build support for the Abortion is health care. The Global HER Act Health Care Everywhere Act to repeal reinforces that reproductive freedom the Helms Amendment. I’m looking is a basic human right—essential and forward to continuing the fight! not a political tool. popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 29 Building Civic Competence With PopEd A Lesson on Political Representation By Pam Wasserman and Pete Bailey d E o p P

he concept of democracy has been much on our minds these past several months, asT we’ve recognized the fragility of something many of us took for granted in the United States. Even before the rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, to try to overthrow a free and fair election, other pernicious strategies had been used to try to erode our democracy—voter suppression, misinformation from dubious media sources, and gerrymandering.

To coincide with the 2020 Decennial Census, the PopEd team released a new set of lesson plans and student readings, aptly named 330 Million in the USA. Designed for secondary social studies classrooms, some of the components are especially relevant for classes on U.S. Government and Civics.

One in particular, “The People’s House,” examines U.S. population and congres- statista.com/chart/21313/most-gerrymandered-districts-us/ sional representation. Part 1 of the lesson sets up a debate on the appropriate size the size to its present 435 (1:216,000 make it more difficult for ruling parties of the U.S. House of Representatives that year) to contemporary essays on in each state to gerrymander the dis- based on our current population. For the merits of lifting that cap to allow for tricts using the latest census data. That debate prep, students explore histori- better representation (today’s average is brings us to Part 2 of the activity, which cal primary sources from The Federalist 1:763,000). explains gerrymandering—the history, Papers (Madison suggested a body that techniques, and resulting tortured shapes would grow to maintain a 1:30,000 ratio) One of the arguments for increasing the of many of our current districts. to the 1911 Apportionment Act capping number of congressional districts is to

30 Population Connection — March 2021 The activity invites students to be dis- consider: How does gerrymandering at stake for our nation’s future, PopEd trict mapmakers practicing their skills affect elections? Why is gerrymandering will continue to find ways to foster civic at two insidious gerrymandering tech- often described as undemocratic? How competence through our curriculum. niques: cracking and packing. “Cracking” could the United States end partisan separates groups of people whose similar gerrymandering? These questions will be The full activity, as well as a blog post voting habits would likely lead to elect- especially timely this year as state legis- explaining redistricting and the U.S. ing a representative of a certain political latures receive the new 2020 Census data Census, can be downloaded from the party. “Packing” combines groups of sim- and conduct the once-a-decade reappor- PopEd website: ilar voters—regardless of location—into tionment of congressional districts. the same district so their votes do not • Activity: populationeducation.org/ influence election results in more than For high school students approach- resource/the-peoples-house/ one district. ing voting age, this activity may soon • Blog: populationeducation.org/ become more than an academic exercise, a-brief-history-of-how- Try your mapmaking skills at the sam- as they consider the weight of their votes gerrymandering-distorts-u-s- ple worksheet assignments below. Then in our democratic process. With so much politics/

Answers: The Massachusetts assignment illustrates “packing,” while the Texas assignment is an example of “cracking.” Sample solutions to grouping the districts can be found on the last page of the activity here: populationeducation.org/wp-content/ uploads/2020/05/the-peoples-house.pdf

popconnect.org March 2021 — Population Connection 31 Cartoon

32 Population Connection — March 2021 Editorial Excerpts

It’s a relief to see the Biden administration swiftly begin to Continuing down their list of poor priorities during a deadly dismantle the crippling rules and regulations put in place by infectious disease pandemic, Iowa Republicans are offering a the Trump administration to prevent health care providers not radical measure to limit abortion access. just from offering abortions but from even offering information about the procedure to patients. … The proposal would declare that the Iowa Constitution “does not recognize, grant, or secure a right to abortion or require the The Global Gag Rule has been alternately invoked by public funding of abortion.” If it earns final approval, it would Republican presidents and withdrawn by Democratic ones give future legislators the ability to pass extreme abortion ever since it was first imposed by President Reagan at the restrictions and leave the courts with little ability to intervene. United Nations International Conference on Population and … Development in Mexico City in 1984 (which is why it is also known as the Mexico City policy). … The GOP campaign against family planning appears to be backfiring. After a decades long decline in the number of abor- The Global Gag Rule is onerous enough when it prevents tions performed in our state, the figure jumped up by 25 percent family planning organizations in foreign countries from pro- between 2018 and 2019, the Associated Press reported last year. viding abortions or counseling on abortion. But under the Trump administration, the rule was extended to any health There’s a clear line between the increase in abortions and care organization that also happened to provide reproductive Iowa’s decision in 2017 to turn down federal family planning care. That meant organizations providing care in the fields of funds. State officials set up their own program, allowing them HIV/AIDS, malaria, maternal and child health—which also to exclude organizations that also perform abortions, such as may have provided reproductive care to women and girls, abor- Planned Parenthood. … tions, or abortion counseling—were at risk of losing billions of dollars in U.S. aid unless they stopped any and all levels of their All that has made it harder for low-income Iowans to get abortion care. When organizations agreed to the terms, they birth control counseling, contraception, testing, and exams. We couldn’t provide reproductive-age women with information on know those very same services are associated with lower abor- abortion even if they requested it. When organizations refused tion rates. Instead of making them more accessible, legislative to comply and lost much-needed aid, they sometimes had to Republicans are determined to restrict abortion rights. … scale back public health programs. One study in 2019 showed reduced access to contraception, prenatal care, HIV testing, and Iowans are narrowly divided on abortion rights. While 48 screening for cancers across several African countries, includ- percent believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases ing South Africa, as a result of turning away funds. … and 45 percent believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, according to a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll [The Biden administration] should work with Congress to pass released last year, support for an anti-abortion constitutional legislation that will prevent the Global Gag Rule from ever amendment is paltry: Just 33 percent support it, while 54 per- being put in place again. The health care organizations that cent oppose. … desperately need this funding do not need to be put through a back-and-forth of building up and whittling down their capac- –January 28, 2021 ity every four to eight years.

–January 27, 2021

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