International Women’s Day

© Julie Fisher/CorbisThis year International Women's Day coincides with the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a historic pledge to make the recognition and fulfillment of women's rights a global priority. The declaration makes clear that reproductive health is critical to the well-being of women and men, asserts all people's right to have access to family planning information and services, and underscores the importance of maternal and newborn health care...more

Spain expands legal access to abortion

©iStockphoto/
Fernando Alonso HerreroOn February 24, the Spanish senate approved a new law on sexual and reproductive health, which relaxes restrictions on women's access to abortion. The law allows abortion under any circumstances up to 14 weeks' gestation and declares the procedure a woman's right. It also permits abortion at up to 22 weeks if two doctors certify that the pregnancy poses a serious threat to the woman's life or health, as well as in cases of fetal impairment, and beyond 22 weeks in cases of severe fetal impairment. This legislative change echoes a global trend toward liberalizing abortion laws...more

Guttmacher becomes WHO Collaborating Center for Reproductive Health

The Guttmacher Institute has been designated an official Collaborating Center for Reproductive Health by The World Health Organization (WHO) and its regional office, the Pan American Health Organization. Guttmacher now joins an elite network of over 800 health-focused institutions in more than 80 countries that inform WHO’s work and help set its global health priorities. “We are honored to be designated an official collaborator by the world’s leading organization on global health matters,” said Sharon L. Camp, president and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute. more

Black History Month: Addressing health disparities

As the United States celebrates Black History Month, persistent health disparities between black and white Americans remain an enduring challenge. Sexual and reproductive health outcomes are riddled with inequities, including differences in contraceptive failure rates, unintended pregnancy and abortion among teen and adult women, and rates of infection with HIV and other STIs among both men and women. While much progress has been made, our efforts and attention need to be directed toward equalizing health outcomes for all Americans...more

The president’s budget: Prevention advances, but abortion rights stall out

©iStockphoto/Dave NewmanOn February 1, President Obama sent his proposed budget for the 2011 fiscal year to Congress. The administration's top domestic priority for reproductive health and rights is teen pregnancy prevention, while the president is taking a pass on abortion rights. On the international front, the administration is proposing increased funding for international family planning and global maternal and child health, and has also unveiled the outlines of its Global Health Initiative…more

Review of new study on a theory-based abstinence program

An abstinence-only intervention aimed at young, urban African-American adolescents successfully delayed sexual initiation among participants, according to a well-designed new study by John B. Jemmott and colleagues. The evaluation adds important new information to the question of “what works” in sex education, but the evaluated program was not a rigid “abstinence-only-until-marriage” program of the type that, until this year, received significant federal funding…more

Teen pregnancy increases after decade-long decline

©iStockphoto/aldomurilloFollowing a steep decline in the 1990s and a flattening out in the early 2000s, teen pregnancy rates increased in 2006—reflected in both increased birth and abortion rates. The significant drop in teen pregnancy rates in the 1990s was overwhelmingly due to more and better contraceptive use by sexually active teens. However, this downward trend flattened out and then reversed itself at the same time that programs aimed exclusively at promoting abstinence—which are prohibited from discussing the benefits of contraception—became increasingly widespread, and teens’ use of contraceptives declined…more

Indigenous women in Bolivia have larger-than-desired families and lack contraceptive access

Laurence Fordyce
Eye Ubiquitous/CORBISA new study of couples in Bolivia finds that indigenous and nonindigenous women have nearly the same rate of wanted births, dispelling the myth that indigenous women have more children because they desire larger families than nonindigenous women. The study found that unwanted births among indigenous women account for the difference in the birthrates, a disparity likely driven by indigenous women’s poor access to contraceptive services and higher rate of unmet need for contraception…more

Haiti relief efforts cannot afford to overlook reproductive health needs

Following Haiti’s devastating earthquake, many thousands of Haitians will likely be forced to live in makeshift arrangements for years to come. During this time of displacement, the health and lives of Haiti’s women and girls are threatened by severe living conditions, including the virtual absence of reproductive health services…more

Recession puts strain on family planning centers

ERproductions Ltd/Blend Images/CorbisPublicly funded family planning providers are struggling to meet a growing need for subsidized contraceptive care, which is being driven by more women wanting to postpone childbearing during tough economic times. Family planning centers have seen an increase in the overall number of clients seeking services, especially poor and low-income clients. This surge in demand is straining already limited resources, forcing many centers to cut back on services due to budgetary constraints...more

New study finds 70% reduction in maternal deaths and nearly 50% decline in newborn deaths are within reach

© Victor MelloMaternal deaths in developing countries could be slashed by 70% and newborn deaths cut nearly in half if the world doubled investment in family planning and pregnancy-related care, shows a new report by the Guttmacher Institute and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The new report, Adding It Up: The Costs and Benefits of Investing in Family Planning and Maternal and Newborn Health, found that investments in family planning boost the overall effectiveness of every dollar spent on the provision of pregnancy-related and newborn health care. more

Health reform encounters two long-standing challenges: Confidentiality and health IT

Two new analyses in the Fall 2009 issue of the Guttmacher Policy Review examine how health care reform might affect medical providers—in particular those who provide sexual and reproductive health services—in two important and interrelated areas: confidentiality of services and health information technology...more

Improving contraceptive services in Uganda would save lives and money

Seven in 10 Ugandan women who want to avoid pregnancy either do not practice contraception or rely on methods with high failure rates. Women who use no method at all account for 88% of Uganda's more than one million unintended pregnancies, while women using modern contraceptives account for only 5%. "Benefits of Meeting the Contraceptive Needs of Ugandan Women," a new report from the Guttmacher Institute and the Economic Policy Research Centre, documents the many health, social and financial benefits of investing in contraceptive services…more

Unintended pregnancy and abortion decline worldwide as contraceptive use rises

Increases in global contraceptive use have contributed to a decrease in the number of unintended pregnancies and, in turn, a decline in the number of abortions worldwide. This decline occurred alongside a global trend toward liberalizing abortion laws. Indeed, abortion happens at roughly equal rates in regions where it is broadly legal and where it is highly restricted. The key difference is safety. The report, “Abortion Worldwide: A Decade of Uneven Progress,” recommends making modern contraceptives available to all women who want them, expanding access to legal abortion and improving postabortion care...more

To learn more about our report’s implications for U.S. policy, read this blog post on The Hill's Congress Blog and also see this response to critics of our report on RH Reality Check.

A related Guttmacher study finds that treating the complications from unsafe abortion costs the developing world $341 million each year...more

Recession has reshaped women's childbearing desires

After months of anecdotal reports, Guttmacher provides the first hard evidence of the recession’s impact on women’s contraceptive use and childbearing decisions. Because of economic concerns, about half of women surveyed want to delay pregnancy and are more focused on effective contraceptive use, but many forgo contraception to save money…more