GOP's Foreign Aid Cuts Could Dramatically Increase Unsafe Abortions

GOP's Foreign Aid Cuts Could Dramatically Increase Unsafe Abortions: "House Republicans' proposed cuts to international family planning programs could result in 1.3 million more unsafe abortions around the world, 9.4 million people without access to contraceptives, 7,700 maternal deaths and more than 35,000 additional orphans, according to a reproductive health research organization.

A Republican-led subcommittee approved a foreign spending bill on Wednesday that cuts family planning funding overseas by $154 million and codifies the Global Gag Rule, which blocks all U.S. money to foreign aid programs that provide or counsel women on abortions. An estimated 21 million unsafe abortions are carried out worldwide annually, and as the Guttmacher Institute points out, restricting access (legal or otherwise) to abortion does not reduce the incidence of abortion, but 'does, however, affect the safety of abortion.'

Subcommittee chair Kay Granger (R-Texas) said the bill reflects the 'new realities' of the global recession."