Women’s Rights, Environmental Advocates Should Work Together To Improve Access To Family Planning Services

Washington Post: Women’s rights issues are climate change issues
John Podesta, former chair of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, former counselor to President Barack Obama, and former member of the U.N. secretary general’s high-level panel on the post-2015 development agenda; and Timothy E. Wirth, vice chair and president emeritus of the United Nations Foundation

“…Forging a coalition between the environmental movement and the women’s rights movement will not only fundamentally advance women’s rights but also do a world of good for the planet, which is bearing an environmental burden because of population growth. … Giving women across the globe access to reproductive rights and health is a moral imperative. … In fact, family planning ranks as one of the 10 most substantive solutions to climate change, according to a recent analysis of peer-reviewed research. In addition to being cost-effective from an emissions reduction perspective, the co-benefits to women and families across the globe are enormous. … [Y]et, one of President Trump’s first acts in office was to widely expand the ‘global gag rule’ … American environmentalists and women’s rights advocates have every reason to feel under siege by the Trump administration. But this is all the more reason to find common cause in fighting for healthy women and a healthy planet. Progress is made possible when groups that have long focused on single issues join forces to build fairer, more sustainable economies and societies” (1/23).

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