The Religious Consultation
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The Center for Health and Gender Equity, July 20, 2005 House Bill Would Eliminate Contraceptive Supplies to Prevent Obstetric Fistula In a new low, Representative Chris Smith--whose dubious claims to fame include the global gag rule, the gutting of effective HIV prevention programs, and denying funds to UNFPA on false grounds--offered an amendment yesterday to the State Department Reauthorization Bill that will eliminate contraceptive supplies from efforts to prevent obstetric fistula, reported the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE). The amendment passed late yesterday 223 to 205 on the House Floor. Obstetric fistula is a devastating pregnancy-related disability affecting between 50,000 and 100,000 women each year. Fistula often occurs when a woman experiences obstructed labor and is unable to get a caesarean section. Obstructed labor and other complications of pregnancy and childbirth occur most frequently in countries where early marriage, early and frequent childbearing, and malnutrition are commonplace, and where access to contraceptive supplies, prenatal care and emergency obstetrical care is limited. Obstructed labor leads almost invariably to the death of the baby during birth, and often the death of the mother. Those who do survive face serious consequences. Complications of fistula include, among other things, persistent leaking of urine and feces and a greater risk of HIV and other infections. "While repair of fistula is relatively simple," notes Jodi Jacobson, Executive Director of CHANGE, "the vast majority of women suffering from it lack access to medical care for such repairs. Women who suffer from fistula are often ostracized and forced to leave their homes, and many, with no economic support outside of marriage, turn to begging, prostitution and other acts of desperation simply to survive.” According to the World Health Organization, reducing the number of unintended pregnancies--especially among young brides, or among women who have reached their desired family size--is the simplest, most effective means of reducing the number of cases of fistula worldwide. "Chris Smith--who works relentlessly to deny women the most basic forms of preventive care--has put another notch in his belt today, by denying women affordable technologies that would enable them to take control of their lives, avoid a life-threatening condition, and live to see their children thrive," noted Jacobson. Moreover, she continued, “Those who blindly voted in favor of this amendment share in the blame.”
The Center for Health and Gender Equity is
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focused on the effects of U.S. international
policies on the health and rights of women,
girls, and other vulnerable populations in
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