Congress Proposes Major Boost in Funding for Family Planning

On July 16, the House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee authorized a bill calling for $600 million to be spent on international family planning and reproductive health programs in 2009, an unprecedented level of support—30% more than was provided in 2008, and nearly double the amount proposed by President Bush ($327.5 million).

The bill, sponsored by Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY), a strong advocate for women’s health, includes $60 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Since 2002, President Bush has withheld $235 million in funding allocated to UNFPA, claiming that the organization supports coerced abortion and forced sterilization in China. The new bill maintains President Bush’s ban on these funds going to China, but ensures support of UNFPA’s activities—such as  providing emergency obstetric care, expanding access to family planning, preventing and treating obstetric fistula, and reducing harmful traditional practices such as female genital cutting and child marriage—in the other 150 countries where the organization works.

At the same time as the House subcommittee passed its bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its version, allocating $520 million for family planning and reproductive health. The Senate bill also includes funds for UNFPA ($45 million), maintaining the same policy language about funding for the organization as the House version, but going even further by overturning the Mexico City policy, or “Global Gag Rule.”

The positive policy changes and increase in family planning funding proposed by both the House and Senate appropriations committees lay important groundwork for when the full Congress makes final determinations on foreign aid spending for 2009. It is unlikely that a foreign assistance bill will be passed before a new President takes office; Congress is expected to issue continuing resolutions to maintain current funding levels until March 2009, at which time the House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill will be considered. As decisions are made, EngenderHealth will provide regular updates.