The U.S. international family planning program is crucial, in terms of both the amount the United States contributes and the program’s unique attributes, which make it an especially effective part of U.S. global health and development policy, according to a new Guttmacher policy analysis. However, this success in helping women in poor countries better time and space their pregnancies is threatened by deep cuts in federal spending and by targeted attempts by some social conservatives to defund U.S. family planning assistance.

"The U.S. international family planning and reproductive health program stands out as one of our nation’s flagship foreign aid investments, and it is rightly a cornerstone of the new Global Health Initiative," says Susan Cohen, author of the new analysis. "That’s why cutting back funding for this highly effective program would be disastrous for women and families in poor countries—while barely making a dent in the U.S. budget deficit."

The United States has long been the world’s leading donor of contraceptive services and supplies, currently contributing $648 million for family planning and closely related reproductive health care overseas. Equally important, Cohen contends, is the specific U.S. approach to programming these dollars. Unlike many other donor countries, the United States relies heavily on the private sector, stresses technical assistance and evaluation, and concentrates its support on improving the quality of and access to contraceptive services.

"The U.S. emphasis on working with nongovernmental organizations, rather than only foreign governments, facilitates innovation and accountability, leverages greater investment from recipient country governments themselves and ensures that U.S. expertise has the maximum positive impact," says Cohen. "This approach thoroughly reflects core American values while affording greater sensitivity to local cultural, social and religious traditions."

Cohen’s analysis warns that cuts to the U.S. international family planning program would have significant repercussions. Less access to contraceptive services, for example, would lead to more unintended pregnancies, undermining the momentum toward reducing maternal mortality and improving maternal health. If the U.S. ability to provide technical assistance is lost, it would not only be difficult to recreate, but the effectiveness of funding provided by other donors and local governments would be jeopardized as well. The United States is the only governmental donor to deploy professional staff around the world to work alongside local counterparts, thereby enhancing effectiveness and local ownership.

"The role that family planning plays in saving women’s lives is indisputable, as is the critical role U.S. funding and leadership plays in making the global effort to promote maternal and reproductive health such a success," says Cohen. "It’s disturbing that foreign aid seems to have become a budgetary piñata in this fiscally austere climate and that social conservatives are using this as an opportunity to target family planning. It would be entirely self-defeating should lawmakers force the United States to step back from helping women move forward."

Click here for "As Global Commitment to Reproductive Health Intensifies, U.S. Leadership More Important Than Ever," by Susan A. Cohen, in the Winter 2011 issue of the Guttmacher Policy Review.