And the gag rule takes aim at the right of other countries to democratically arrive at their own conclusions. Even in the United States, where levels of contraceptive use are high, there are more than 3 million unintended pregnancies each year. Women overseas face an even greater challenge to planning their families. Some 150 million married women indicate a desire to plan their families but are not currently using a contraceptive method. This unmet demand is only going to grow, since half of the six billion people alive today are under 25 years old.
Family planning is a basic health care service.
Family planning is a vital part of basic health care services-and a basic right. Every sixty seconds, a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth. Women who have fewer children, later in life, and spaced well apart, increase the chances of the children's survival as well as their own. Increasing the availability of prenatal care, trained birth attendants and family planning services is essential to making pregnancy and childbirth safer for women and their babies. Access to family planning helps reduce reliance on abortion and deaths caused by unsafe abortion.