PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND HIGHLIGHTS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY AND THE WORLD WE WANT
For Immediate Release: May 19, 2014
(New Haven, Conn.) Below is a statement from Judy Tabar President & CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England on the importance of International Women’s Day:
"In preparation for setting new global development goals, the United Nations has put a call out to people around the world asking us to define the "World We Want" by completing an online survey and using the hashtag #WorldWeWant on social media.
"March 8 is International Women’s Day and supporters of women’s health and rights are responding to that call by sharing our vision of the world we want.
"This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development where nations across the globe, including the United States, declared that reproductive rights are human rights. Over the past two decades, much progress has been made. Yet around the world, 222 million women in developing countries who want to plan and space their families still lack access to modern birth control; and 47,000 women die from the inability to access a legal abortion with an experienced provider. We have our work cut out for us.
"Planned Parenthood of Southern New England works to make the world we want a reality every day. Our health centers in Connecticut and Rhode Island deliver care to over 70,000 patients annually, and 90 percent of the services provided are preventive, including more than 37,000 HIV and STD tests and treatments.
"In response to the United Nations’ call to defining the world we believe women, men and youth from every country should know the following:
"In the world we want,
1. access to health care does not depend on your postal code, gender, sexual identity, the language you speak or the color of your skin.
2. politicians do not come between a woman and her health care provider.
3. girls are just as likely as boys to stay in school, go after the jobs they want and become leaders in their communities.
4. there are no new HIV infections and those living with HIV are able to make decisions about their health and lives, just like anybody else.
5. young people are empowered and trusted with information about sex — so they can prevent unintended pregnancy and protect themselves from STDs.
6. all people have equal protection and equal benefit under the law.
"The world we want is free of stigma, discrimination and violence; and reproductive rights are recognized as human rights. The world we want acknowledges the only way forward is to protect and expand these rights.
"In the world we want, all people control their own bodies and their own destinies.
"This is the world we want; and this is the world for which we will fight."