Because rapid population growth exacerbates every environmental problem, it is intimately linked to all our efforts to protect the environment. The rate at which we are consuming natural resources is jeopardizing our planet's health and threatening the availability of water, fisheries, and forests for our children and future generations. By limiting access to information and services that help families to decide the timing and spacing of their children, President Bush is making it more difficult to protect the natural resources that are under pressure from the demands of rapidly increasing population. The 630,000 members of the Sierra Club know that population and consumption pressures are critical environmental issues. To address the core causes of these problems effectively, we must adopt the strategy agreed to at the 1994 UN Conference on Population and Development - to prioritize family planning, girls education and women's empowerment programs that encourage smaller and healthier families.
Healthy families are good for the environment.
The Sierra Club supports women and families and their right to information and access to family planning and reproductive health services. President Bush's action hurts women who are dying every minute of every day from complications of pregnancy. President Bush's action to reinstate the gag rule hurts families who are working to create a better life for their children. And President Bush's action hurts the environment. By damaging family planning groups overseas, President Bush is placing more pressure on our fragile environment.