Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1) Abortion is a critical component of sexual and reproductive health care and should be accessible and affordable for all people. (2) All people have the right to make their own choices about their sexual and reproductive health, and to access quality and affordable sexual and reproductive health care, including family planning and abortion care. International agreements have recognized reproductive rights for over 30 years. (3) Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that when people, including young women and adolescent girls, gender nonconforming individuals, and transgender men, are able to control their reproductive lives, there are enormous social and economic benefits, not just for the individual and their family, but for entire communities. Countries that prioritize reproductive health rights, justice, and human rights are more likely to have better overall health among their population. (4) Abortion is safe, but without accessible and legal care, people risk their lives to end their pregnancies. (5) At least 20,000 people in low- and middle-income countries die every year as a result of complications from unsafe abortions, which in a global context refers to abortion care not delivered by a trained provider or using a World Health Organization-recommended method. (6) 97 percent of unsafe abortions occur in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In low- and middle-income countries, the annual cost of post-abortion care for all who need it would be $2,300,000,000. The majority of this cost is attributed to treating complications from abortions provided in unsafe conditions. (7) Restricting abortion does not reduce either the need for, or number of, abortions. Abortion rates are similar in countries where it is highly restricted by law and where it is broadly legal. (8) As part of their commitment to prevent unsafe abortions and preventable deaths and ensure all people have access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care and can exercise their right to full control over their sexuality and reproduction, developing countries and donor governments must work collaboratively to deploy funding, align policies, and mobilize expertise to make safe abortion services available to those seeking to terminate pregnancies. (9) United States law restricting United States foreign assistance funding from being used to provide safe abortion services has the effect of harming people who seek to terminate their pregnancies in several ways, including by blocking access to services and erecting barriers to providers obtaining the training and equipment needed to deliver care to those in need. (10) Since section 104(f)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151b(f)(1)) (commonly referred to as the Helms amendment) was enacted in 1973, dozens of governments across the globe have liberalized abortion laws and policies. (11) In 2019, in countries where the United States supported family planning and reproductive health care and in which abortion was legal on at least some grounds, support for safe abortion could have averted over 19,000,000 unsafe abortions and 17,000 maternal deaths each year. (12) Access to family planning reduces abortions by as many as 3,000,000 a year, including 2,000,000 unsafe abortions, as well as averting 13,000 maternal deaths on an annual basis. (13) The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (142 S. Ct. 2228 (2022)) decision went against the global trend toward expanding access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, including abortion, and continues to negatively impact abortion access across the United States and globally. The decision has emboldened anti-abortion rights actors, increased abortion stigma, and created new challenges for countries that have relied on the Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113 (1973)) decision in the liberalization of their own laws. (14) The Trump Administration has cut international family planning funding and global health programs, reinstated and expanded the global gag rule, and threatened to destroy contraceptives, which will lead to more unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and maternal deaths.