PAI Applauds Passage of the House Fiscal Year 2022 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Bill

“Bill includes major advancements for global sexual and reproductive health and rights.”

PAI applauds the passage of the Fiscal Year 2022 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) appropriations bill by the U.S. House of Representatives. This bill — the first written and passed under Representative Barbara Lee’s (D-CA) leadership of the SFOPS subcommittee — includes tremendous advancements for global sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

“We are thrilled about the passage of the SFOPS bill by the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, PAI president and CEO. “We commend Subcommitee Chairwoman Barbara Lee for crafting a bill that boldly prioritizes SRHR and Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and the other pro-family planning and reproductive health members in the House who helped to shepherd this bill through.”

The bill includes long-overdue increases in bilateral and multilateral family planning funding, which has been stagnant for over a decade, providing a total of $830 million for these programs. This represents an increase of more than $222 million over current funding levels and $190 million more than President Biden’s first budget request.

In addition to funding, the bill addresses a number of policy issues that promote SRHR, improve the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance funds and ensure that family planning and reproductive health programs receive the same treatment as other U.S. foreign assistance programs. Among the most exciting of these changes is the inclusion of the operative language from the Global Health, Empowerment and Rights (Global HER) Act to permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule. This provision amends the Foreign Assistance Act to ensure that future presidents are prevented from reinstating this policy. Additionally, the SFOPS bill is free of the Helms amendment, which is a crucial step towards eliminating the policy that has restricted the use of U.S. funds for abortion for nearly 50 years.

Republican opponents to SRHR attempted to amend the bill to eliminate all family planning and reproductive health funding, but these measures were voted down.

PAI urges the U.S. Senate to pull together and pass a strong bill to clear the way for advancements like increasing family planning and reproductive health funding and ending the Global Gag Rule once and for all.

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PAI champions policies that put women in charge of their reproductive health. We work with policymakers in Washington, D.C., and our network of partners around the world to remove roadblocks between women and the services and supplies they need. For 56 years, we’ve helped women succeed by upholding their basic rights. To learn more, visit pai2020s.wpengine.com.