11.7 Million Women and Girls to Lose Access to Contraception Under U.S. Aid Halt

For almost ten years, Congress has designated $607.5 million each year in foreign aid for family planning, which includes $32.5 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The funds aim to deliver modern contraceptive care to 47.6 million women and girls by 2025. Nonetheless, the Trump administration has implemented a 90-day halt on all foreign assistance, obstructing access to these essential services.

With each passing day of this freeze, 130,390 women are deprived of contraceptive care through U.S.-funded programs. In just a week, that figure will exceed 900,000, and by the end of the month, four million women and girls will have been deprived of access. After the 90-day review period, 11.7 million women and girls will find themselves without vital reproductive healthcare.

Research from the Guttmacher Institute indicates that the repercussions of this freeze will be severe. In the absence of contraception, it is anticipated that 4.2 million unintended pregnancies will occur in 2025, resulting in 8,340 maternal deaths from pregnancy-related complications. Experts caution that the refusal to release these funds, which Congress has legally allocated, is detrimental and illegal.

The suspension of family planning aid is a component of wider policy changes implemented during the Trump administration that have focused on reproductive health funding. 

Organizations advocating for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are urging an immediate reversal of the stop-work order to avert a humanitarian crisis.

“Advocates urge the Trump administration to put an end to this detrimental and illegal withholding of funds,” they stated. “These resources are crucial for safeguarding the rights, dignity, and lives of women and girls around the globe.”

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