For several decades, there were  major gains globally in access to family planning and reproductive health services.

The US Government contributed significantly to this progress through its Agency for International Development (USAID), the largest funding agency for humanitarian and development aid in the world. Indeed, USAID listed the benefits of family planning on its website. These included protecting women’s and children’s health by reducing high-risk pregnancies and allowing sufficient time between pregnancies, advancing individuals’ rights to decide their own family size, improving women’s opportunities for education, employment, and full participation in society, decreasing abortion and reducing poverty by contributing to economic growth at the family, community, and household levels.

All these factors are worthy in their own right, but are also integral in efforts to reduce population growth rates.

USAID proudly noted that it was involved in developing nearly every modern contraceptive method available today, benefitting both women abroad as well as those in the US. In the 41 countries it supported, modern contraceptive prevalence increased from less than 10% in 1965 to 34% in 2023 and family size fell from more than 6 to 3.9.........

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