Huffington Post: Save Women’s Lives — End the Helms Overreach
Nancy K. Kaufman, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women

“…To be clear: U.S. policy should not deny any woman anywhere the comprehensive reproductive health care she seeks for any reason. All bans on abortion coverage should be ended. … Eighty organizations, including the National Council of Jewish Women, wrote [President Obama] a letter to this effect last August. Calling on the president as a ‘champion for women’s health and human rights,’ the organizations urged ‘immediate action to correct the unduly restrictive implementation of the Helms Amendment’ — specifically that the president direct U.S. aid programs and the State Department to allow abortion services for women who are the victims of rape, incest, or whose life is endangered by an untenable pregnancy. So far, President Obama has not acted. Continued failure to act means millions of women in developing countries risk injury and death year in and year out — women whose lives could be saved if the U.S. simply applied the law as it is written” (3/18).

Inter Press Service: Rape in Conflict: Speaking Out for What’s Right
Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)

“…Last week, the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) hosted a panel at the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) where panelists from Human Rights Watch, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and Dandelion Kenya spoke about the brutal sexual violence and rapes that women face, and the absence of comprehensive post rape care for these women and girls, especially when it comes to abortion access. … The status quo — that no U.S. foreign aid should support safe abortion access — is causing too much suffering in this world and it must end. … The time is now for [President Obama] to stand with women and girls and take executive action to support abortion access for women and girls in the cases of rape, incest, and life endangerment. The time is now for the president to answer the call to action echoed by advocates from around the world…” (3/18).