Senators Say Rape Is a Weapon of War, Urge Obama to Ease Restrictions on Abortion Funding Abroad
A group of 28 senators sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Thursday, urging him to reconsider how the United States implements the Helms Amendment, an act that restricts funding for women’s reproductive health around the world. Specifically, the group of mostly Democratic lawmakers asked the president to lift informal restrictions on funding for abortion services following reports of sexual violence and even sexual slavery by militant groups around the world.
“Although the Helms Amendment prevents U.S. foreign aid from being used to perform abortions for family planning purposes,” they wrote, “for over 40 years it has been incorrectly interpreted to prevent the use of foreign aid to fund safe abortions even in the cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment.”
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“No foreign assistance funds may be used to pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions,” the Amendment reads.
More: Senators Say Rape Is a Weapon of War, Urge Obama to Ease Restrictions on Abortion Funding Abroad
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Blumenthal, 27 Senate Colleagues Implore President Obama to Correct Improper Implementation of Helms Amendment, Reduce Barriers to Safe Abortion for Women and Girls in Conflict-Affected Regions
Thursday, October 22, 2015
“If the U.S. does not work to increase access to reproductive healthcare for vulnerable populations, particularly safe abortion services, there will be negative, long-term consequences.”“We cannot be bystanders to such gross violations of the human dignity of these women and girls.”