CARE is deeply concerned with the administration’s proposal to expand the Mexico City Policy restrictions to foreign aid groups under contract with the U.S. government, which comprises approximately 40 percent of global health aid. This policy places undue burden on implementers, healthcare providers, and patients, and leads to negative health outcomes for women and girls. Promoting global health is a nonpartisan issue and U.S. policy governing foreign assistance must reflect the most evidence-based methods aimed at ending preventable maternal and child death.
More than 800 women a day die from pregnancy-related complications, but by ensuring that all women have access to voluntary contraception, we could avert one in four maternal deaths. Any action that jeopardizes the resources needed to achieve this goal will have dire implications for the women, men and families that CARE and the international humanitarian community serves.