A Step Forward for U.S. International Family Planning Assistance

Washington DC, June 17 – Record U.S. appropriations for family planning and reproductive health care assistance overseas took a first crucial step toward enactment today, winning approval from the key House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.

U.S. Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) said in her opening statement, "Voluntary family planning services for families in the developing world is also a priority of this committee."

The proposed $658 million bilateral and multilateral funding for fiscal 2010, if finally enacted, would be 19 percent higher than the 2009 appropriation and 40 percent above the 2008 figure of $464.2 million. “Any way you measure it, it’s a major increase,” said Craig Lasher of Population Action International, “the largest amount ever for these programs.”

The figure includes $60 million for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, restricting its use to programs outside China, in a nod to conservatives’ criticisms of the agency. The full Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider the bill next week, with Senate action likely in late July.

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