Press Release California
Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Applauds the Confirmation of Samantha Power as USAID Administrator
For Immediate Release: April 29th, 2021
Contact: [email protected]
Washington, DC — Today, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Power’s confirmation is a meaningful step toward building a future where reproductive freedom and gender equity are prioritized on a global scale.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue released the following statement in response:
“After four years of an administration that made anti-choice extremism a hallmark of its agenda, it is more urgent than ever that USAID take decisive action to ensure that women and families everywhere have the ability to make their own decisions about their lives, bodies, and futures. We congratulate Samantha Power on her confirmation and look forward to working with USAID—and the entire Biden-Harris administration—on our shared commitment to reproductive freedom.”
Over the past four years, the Trump administration used the U.S. Agency for International Development as a vehicle to export its anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ agenda across the globe. The Trump administration’s attacks on reproductive freedom disproportionately impacted marginalized communities who already face some of the greatest hurdles to accessing care.
During her tenure as ambassador to the United Nations, Power made clear that safeguarding access to reproductive healthcare was a U.S. foreign policy priority, called for increasing access to medical aid—including reproductive healthcare—in conflict zones, and spoke out against gender-based violence. As the next USAID administrator, Power has the opportunity not only to roll back the regressive agenda of the Trump era but to chart a new course that centers reproductive freedom and gender equity in the global pursuit for health and justice. This future will require USAID to prioritize resources for sexual and reproductive healthcare for women and families around the world.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters have fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom—including access to abortion, contraception, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 7 in 10 Americans who believe every person should have the freedom to make the best decision for themselves about if, when, and how to raise a family.