📣 Today, the US Senate introduced the Abortion Is Health Care Everywhere Act! This critical legislation would permanently repeal the harmful and unjust Helms Amendment. For the past 50 years, the Helms Amendment has prohibited the use of US foreign assistance for safe abortion services around the world. This draconian policy applies even in countries where abortion is legal. It also: ❌ creates significant barriers to safe and legal health care globally ❌ stigmatizes abortion ❌ undermines our ability to advance health, human rights, and gender equality This has prevented millions of people from getting essential health care and is particularly shameful and problematic in low- and middle-income countries—where the US has a strong presence through other health and development programs—as abortion rates tend to be relatively high and many abortions are unsafe. The failure of the US and other countries to fully support access to safe abortion services contributes to the *more than 35 million unsafe abortions* annually in low- and middle-income countries, leading to 23,000 preventable maternal deaths. This is unacceptable. Furthermore, we know the fallout from Roe v. Wade being overturned will have a global impact. The US must take action to mitigate the harm of this decision and end policies that restrict access to essential health services, including abortion. Repealing the Helms Amendment would be an important step in the right direction. We thank the members of Congress and advocates who worked to make today's bill introduction possible! 👏🏿👏🏾👏🏽 For more on the harm of the Helms Amendment and what else policymakers can do, tap the link in our bio 👆