The Hill: Zika and the inter-connected fate of women’s rights Caitlin Horrigan, associate director of global advocacy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Michelle Dixon, co-director of the Global Progressive Hub “…Adequately resourcing the Zika fight is not just an American women’s rights issue, it’s a global one.…

CQ News: Fight Over Planned Parenthood Tangles Both Zika Funding and CR “Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Thursday took a hard stance against including money for Planned Parenthood in legislation to combat the Zika virus, a partisan standoff that is shaping up to be the key sticking point as Congress…

The Guardian: Fall in ovarian cancer deaths worldwide linked to contraceptive pill use “Deaths from ovarian cancer have fallen around the world, largely because of the widespread use of the contraceptive pill, according to a major new study. Another factor is the decline in long-term use of hormone replacement therapy…

USAID: Technical Issue Briefs: Latin America and the Caribbean USAID released a series of technical issue briefs providing an overview and history of the agency’s work in family planning assistance in 13 countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region (September 2016).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Feature — HIV-positive Ugandan women complain of forced sterilization in government hospitals “…A 2015 study carried out in nine districts of Uganda by the International Community of Women living with HIV Eastern Africa (ICWEA) found 72 out of 744 HIV-positive women surveyed had been sterilized. Twenty of…

Associated Press: Egypt parliament toughens penalties for female circumcision “Egypt’s parliament on Wednesday toughened penalties for female genital mutilation, adopting amendments that punish perpetrators with up to 15 years in prison if a child dies and up to seven years for performing the procedure. … Wednesday’s vote came four days…

The Hill: Family planning saves lives, so why did the House cut it? Lisa Bos, director of government relations at World Vision U.S. “…Culture, religion, and myths drive [some families in developing countries] to have many children, regardless of the health impact. Parents lack information about why timing births to…

Washington Post: Zika is spreading in Florida, but Congress still hasn’t approved cash to fight it Editorial Board “…Local governments and public health agencies are scrambling to control [Zika’s] spread, provide diagnostics, educate the public, and search for a vaccine. But instead of acting, Republican majorities in Congress have taken…

The Guardian: Conakry hairdressers dispense cut-and-dried contraceptive advice to women “…Five salons across Conakry have been dispensing family planning advice since 2012, and they have been so successful that the project — the brainchild of Jhpiego, a health organization associated with Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. — is about…

Washington Post: With 500,000 female genital mutilation survivors or at risk in U.S., it’s not just someone else’s problem “…[A] Government Accountability Office report reveals an alarming trend: the number of women and girls in the United States potentially facing or who have already suffered mutilation has grown threefold since…