At the end of October, world population reached 7 billion--only 12 years after reaching 6 billion. Rapid population growth is connected to every challenge facing our world in the 21st century.
There are more than 215 million women in the developing world who want access to contraception but do not have it. Collectively, these women experience 62 million unintended pregnancies every year. More than 350,000 women die every year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth--tens of thousands of them after pregnancies they did not want but could not prevent.
I urge you to take a stand in support of international family planning. These programs save lives and improve the health and well-being of millions of women and families around the world. Funding cuts and onerous restrictions on programs will have a devastating and needless impact on the most vulnerable populations around the globe.
Family planning is a critical component of America's foreign policy agenda. It is an investment that brings enormous returns in improved health, economic development, resource security and political stability.
Slashing this funding and reinstating harmful restrictions promise to undermine family planning programs around the world. I strongly urge you to oppose doing so. Ignoring the population issue will not solve it--but real investment in family planning will. We have the ability to make the world safer, saner and more sustainable for all of us--all 7 billion of us.
