And that is why America is helping women around the world to bring down barriers to political participation as advocates and voters, legislators and leaders. We are helping women to succeed economically through access to learning, counseling and credit. We are helping women stay healthy through our support for international family planning, because we want to save women's lives, reduce the number of abortions, and enable children to grow up healthy and strong. It is right to take these steps. And it is also smart, because we have learned that when women have the knowledge and power to make our own choices, societies are better able to break the chains of poverty.
Birth rates stabilize.
Environmental awareness increases. The spread of sexually transmitted disease slows. And socially constructive values are more often passed on to the young. This is how good partners are created for America, and progress generated for humanity. Our efforts are bolstered by the Vital Voices Democracy Initiative, which was launched with the First Lady's strong leadership three years ago.