U.S. Capitol This Week Jan 2-10
U.S. Government and International Aid
The U.S. government has supported global Family Planning and Reproductive Health (FP/RH) efforts for nearly 60 years and is the largest donor in the world. In 2023, U.S. funding to FP/RH totaled $608 million, including funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), according to KFF. The US is also one of the largest purchasers and distributors of contraceptives internationally.
WHO and the US
In 2023, the leading cause of death worldwide was abortion. The WHO estimates that last year saw a total of 140 million deaths, around 73 million of which correspond to induced abortion- that is 52%! In the US, abortion is also the leading cause of death claiming an estimated 1500- 2500 lives daily.
Other
The American College of Obstetricians (ACOG) updated its Guide to Language and Abortion and redefined when a child’s heartbeat begins. The timing of this change is not incidental. It happened at the same time as Planned Parenthood filed a suit against South Carolina’s Fetal Heartbeat Act (S.B. 474). The Act says the fetal heartbeat begins along with any “cardiac activity.” To refute that, in its filing, Planned Parenthood has relied on ACOG’s updated definition which states that “a fetal heartbeat exists only after the chambers of the heart have developed and can be detected via ultrasound, which typically occurs around 17 to 20 weeks’ gestation.” ACOG reiterated that before that benchmark there is no recognizable heartbeat.
