You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS listserv of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
========================================
This story is located at: http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/07128.htm
07128 March 7, 2007
Plan ahead
Expanding family planning programs globally focus of International Women's Day event
by Toya Richards Hill
LOUISVILLE - Birth control pills, condoms and other contraceptives or family planning materials are, for the most part, accessible to any woman in the United States who needs them.
But step outside the developed world, into countries where young girls can get married off at puberty, or where critical pre- and post-natal care is nonexistent, and the situation is drastically different.
In fact, said the Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory, in some cases "it's a matter of life and death."
That's why Giddings Ivory, director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office, will join other religious leaders and some members of Congress on Thursday, March 8 - International Women's Day - to speak out about the needs of women and the value of expanding access to family planning programs worldwide.
"Healthy Women, Healthy Families: Religious Leaders Speak Out on International Women's Day" will take place from 3-4:30 p.m. in Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill.
Giddings Ivory will moderate the program that also will include Jim Winkler, general secretary of the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church, Rabbi Amy Schwartzman, senior rabbi of Temple Rodef Shalom, and Nickie Babayeva, a youth advocate from Azerbaijan and a University of Maryland student.
The event will be one of many taking place globally in honor of International Women's Day, which has been celebrated since the early 1900s. The PC(USA)'s Office of Women's Advocacy also celebrates the day, and has information on its Web site about several women Nobel Laureates who have worked for peace.
"International Women's Day * is to highlight the importance of focusing on the needs of women around the world, and how we can be part of it as members of the richest nation in the world," Giddings Ivory said. It's also critical to be a part of that effort "as members of the Christian faith, where we are taught to care for others."
"This particular day will focus on some of the family planning programs around the world," she said. "We know that if women can plan their pregnancies ... they are better able to have healthy families and give support to the children they already have."
The leaders gathering for the event also hope to garner support for the Focus on Family Health Worldwide Act of 2007 (HR 1225). Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), with bi-partisan support from others such as U.S. Reps. Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and James Oberstar (D-MN), the bill would amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to improve voluntary family planning programs in developing countries, among other things.
"We take it (family planning) for granted here in the United States," Giddings Ivory said. But "in some parts of the world girls are still not permitted to have education."
"They can be put in arranged marriages as young as 14. There is no ability to become your own person, to be able to plot your own destiny," she said.
Passage of the bill would, among other things:
Improve public knowledge of voluntary family planning programs, including the availability of modern contraceptives and the health, economic and natural resource benefits of voluntary family planning for individuals, families and communities;
Support a wide range of public and private voluntary family planning programs, including networks for community-based and subsidized commercial distribution of modern contraceptives;
Expand formal and informal training for health care providers, health educators, including peer educators and outreach workers, managers, traditional birth attendants, counselors and community-based distribution agents; and
Strengthen supply chain logistics for the procurement and reliable distribution of safe and effective modern contraceptives, including coordination with the supply chain for HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment, to allow for maximum efficiency and cost-savings.
"It's biblically imperative that we, as people of faith and followers of Christ * highlight this," said Winkler. "In the poorest counties of the world * women should have access to the same types of family planning * that women in wealthier countries have."
Plus, "there's a direct connection between poor health, poverty and lack of family planning options," Winkler added.
Giddings Ivory urged Presbyterians, and others, to take action by calling their congressional representatives to find out if the representatives support the Focus on Family Health Worldwide Act of 2007.
And if they don't, she said, "ask why not."
========================================
You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS listserv of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org.
To update your email address, send your old email address and your new one to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
For questions or comments, send an email to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
To learn more, visit http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 100 Witherspoon Street Louisville, KY 40202 (888) 728-7228