It’s not always easy to take a stand for what you believe is right.

For Texas State Senator Wendy Davis in 2013, standing up for women’s reproductive rights meant spending 11 hours on her feet, without food, water or a bathroom break - without so much as leaning on a desk - as she filibustered against one of the country’s most draconian anti-choice bills. Her only support were her now iconic bright pink sneakers and knowing the harm the so-called Texas TRAP bill would cause to tens of thousands of women in need of safe reproductive care.

Despite her Olympian effort, the bill eventually passed, causing more than half the state’s abortion clinics to close. (It didn’t help that almost 80 percent of the state legislators were men.) Wendy’s filibuster caught the nation’s attention and energized a new generation of activists in Texas and across the country. The fight ended up in the Supreme Court, which ruled the law unconstitutional, a decision that could make other dangerous laws non starters. Wendy’s voice, and her willingness to take action against tough odds, mattered.

Why This Matters

When women can decide for themselves whether or when to have children, they can plan for the future and begin to control their lives. Women and girls can complete their education and pursue a career. With access to reliable and affordable maternal and reproductive health care, women are more likely to give birth to healthy babies and raise strong families.

Abortion restrictions aren’t the only roadblock women face on the path to maternal and reproductive health. Poverty, isolation, lack of skilled providers, misinformation, stigmatization and other cultural barriers keep women from accessing everything from menstrual care and contraceptives to prenatal and childbirth care. These barriers cost lives. Globally, more than 280,000 women die each year in childbirth, and close to 50,000 die from unsafe abortions. Hundreds of thousands more suffer serious injuries, infections or disabilities that are mostly preventable.

Around The World

In the developing world, the main drivers behind maternal death and disability are poverty, lack of information and control, and little access to skilled health providers. Many women have virtually no access to healthcare during pregnancy and childbirth, one reason why 99 percent of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries. For teenage girls growing up in low or middle income countries, pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of death.

Even menstruation can be a health hazard, since many women in developing areas can’t get sanitary products or even a private, clean place to take care of themselves. Imagine a world where your menstrual products are limited to a contaminated rag or mud. Then there are the taboos, myths, and misinformation – some girls are told they can sterilize a cow, kill a plant or destroy a mirror just by touching them during their period. Others are taught that hormonal contraceptives can cause infertility.

Michael Tsegaye / Save the Children

More than 200 million women in developing countries don’t have access to contraceptives because of public health systems that lack resources, a shortage of trained medical providers and a scarcity of products. Most of them live in the poorest countries on earth. More than 35 percent of them will have unintended pregnancies and a fourth of those women will resort to an unsafe abortion.

Improving healthcare access and quality can make a huge difference to lives of women in low and middle income countries, as well as dramatically expanding access to voluntary family planning and contraceptives. Identifying and eliminating barriers that prevent women from getting these services, sharing evidence-based practices, and increasing funding for family planning and contraceptives can help women in developing countries take control of their reproductive health. Creating public-private partnerships to address the issue by developing innovative and affordable contraceptive technologies can also make a difference.

The United States

The United States is an outlier among developed countries, having one of the highest numbers of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Only Mexico has a higher maternal mortality ratio. One contributor is the ideological and legislative war on abortion and contraception, which has lead to decreased funding for women’s healthcare. In Texas, where Wendy Davis fought so hard for women’s reproductive rights, the maternal mortality ratio has doubled from 2000 to 2014.

Unintended pregnancies and abortions are also higher in the U.S. than in other developed countries--the highest rates are among low-income women. Lack of information and misinformation also play a role here. Many states rely on an “abstinence-only” sex education--a form of sex education that teaches not having sex outside of marriage--despite the fact that research shows it doesn’t work.

Houston Chronicle

Access is also an issue. Certain companies can now legally exclude contraceptive coverage from health insurance benefits to their employees if the company’s owner has religious objections. So much for women’s freedoms and rights. Even if insurance covers contraceptives, women may still struggle to afford it, because they’re required to pay 60 percent of the price out of their own pocket. Co-pays of most drugs are half that. As for abortion, while it’s still legal, state legislatures across the country are doing their best to take a sledgehammer to that right. People like Wendy Davis are sometimes the only thing standing in their way.

Increasing insurance coverage of contraceptives, protecting a woman’s right to receive prescribed contraceptives, and providing teenagers with confidential comprehensive contraceptive care and access to contraceptives can greatly reduce unintended pregnancies as well as the need for abortion services.

Our Approach

When women have access to reliable and accessible maternal and reproductive health care, their families reap the rewards as well. Families are healthier. Child mortality decreases. Public health improves. Economic opportunity and security increases. Without this access, gender equality is virtually impossible.

We seek to advance programs and policies that improve education, funding and access to maternal and reproductive health services, and eliminate discrimination and restrictions on women’s rights.

• Promote comprehensive, medically accurate and age appropriate sexual health education
• Help community healthcare providers advance their knowledge, training, skills and tools
• Increase the dissemination and adoption of evidence-based practices and effective life-saving interventions
• Increase investment in health clinics and community-based medical and paramedical health workers
• Ensure contraceptive availability and affordability across the board, particularly to low-income women
• Promote development and distribution of reusable, long-lasting tampon substitutes

• Reduce barriers to accessing contraception
• Advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights
• Decriminalize abortion and advocate for less restrictive laws
• Promote cultural and social change to reduce stigmatization

RESOURCES

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. "Access to Contraception."

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Maternal, Newborn and Child Health."

Guttmacher Institute. "An Overview of Abortion Laws."

Manny Fernandez. The New York Times. "Abortion Law Pushes Texas Clinics to Close Doors."

Maverick Collective. "Impact - Maverick Collective."

National Conference of State Legislators. “Women in State Legislators for 2015.”

Planned Parenthood. "The Facts on Birth Control Coverage for Women."

The New York Times. "America’s Shocking Maternal Deaths."

Tom Dart. The Guardian. “Wendy Davis's remarkable filibuster to deny passage of abortion bill.”

World Health Organization. "Maternal Mortality."

PHOTO CREDIT
Trocaire. Flickr. "Safe Motherhood."