International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) welcomes changes to AusAID’s Family Planning Guidelines. IWDA Executive Director, Jane Sloane, said today that these changes would save lives and ensure that women were supported with information and services to reduce the incidence of maternal deaths.

Women and women’s organisations around the world were last night celebrating the fact that Australia has followed the example set by President Obama in the US in overturning USAID family planning guidelines that have impacted so tragically on women’s lives.

Previously, under AusAID’s guidelines, which were modelled on the USAID guidelines, no information could be provided about unsafe abortion and no service could be provided even in those countries where abortion is legal. During this period, AusAID funding for family planning was reduced by 84%.

 Over 500,000 women die from pregnancy related causes each year. Of these, at least 70,000 women die from complications arising from unsafe abortion. It is estimated that 200 million women who need family planning are not provided with information and services. The lack of access to family planning results in 80 million unintended pregnancies each year. The change to AusAID’s Family Planning Guidelines provides an opportunity to address these critical issues.

‘Given that two thirds of the world’s poor (some 800 million people) reside in the Asia Pacific region, this change to AusAID’s family planning guidelines will save lives while recognising the right of women to access family planning information and services to support their health and wellbeing’, Ms Sloane said.

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Media Release

For further information and interviews contact Jane Sloane Executive Director , IWDA on 0412 310 133.