Passed in 1973, the Helms Amendment prohibits the use of U.S. foreign assistance funding to provide abortion services “as a method of family planning” and to prevent the “coer[cion of] any person to practice abortions.” Unfortunately, incorrect implementation of the Helms Amendment overly restricts the provision of reproductive health services for thousands of women globally. Without programs funded by the U.S. government, many women who are raped or whose lives are in danger cannot access necessary care such as safe abortion services. These women often see no option but to seek an unsafe abortion or risk dying in childbirth.
“At last count, 47,000 women died per year due to unsafe abortion,” says Hon. Arzu Rana Deuba, a Member of Parliament in Nepal, in the video below.
In this new video from Ipas, global leaders like Dr. Deuba urge President Obama and the U.S. government to clarify the law and legally direct the use of funding to allow abortion services in the cases of rape, incest and life endangerment.
