Congresswoman Nita Lowey named International Family Planning Hero

l to r: Cecile Richard (PPFA), Reina Schiffren (PP HP), The Hon. Nita Lowey, Dr. Gill Greer (IPPF), Kathy Bushkin Calvin (UN Foundation)

I was very happy to attend a breakfast at the Rye Town Hilton in Westchester County, at which Congresswoman Nita Lowey received the first "International Family Planning Hero" award offered by the UN Foundation and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, as well as Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic. About 90 community leaders, politicians and Planned Parenthood supporters attended. Brenda Smith, board member of UNA Westchester and former Superintendent of Schools of Mount Vernon, Noema Chaplin, board member of UNA Queens and I made up the UNA-USA contingent.

I had a chance to talk with Kathy Bushkin Calvin of the UN Foundation, Amir Dossal, Executive Director of the UN Office for Partnerships, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, State Senator from my district (Greenburgh, Yonkers), Representative John Hall of the 19th Congressional District, Reina Schiffrin, President of PP Hudson Peconic, and Dr. Gill Greer, Director-General of IPPF. Adequate funding and U.S. support for family planning services and education, as well as linked issues such as women's economic rights and human rights, and education for women and girls, are very important to me.

I worked for many years as an international family planning consultant, beginning my career in family planning with Planned Parenthood's Washington office, and later worked in the IPPF Western Hemisphere Office in New York. I also consulted with the UN Population Fund. I'm a strong supporter of family planning- not only because for its implications for women's personal choice, but also for its impact on family health & economics and community & national development.

Through her position as the chair of the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Lowey has worked to increase the level of funding for international reproductive health programs to an all-time high of $648.5 million in the Fiscal Year 2010 House Appropriations bill. The 2010 appropriations bill also expands funding for the UN Population Fund. Mrs. Lowey has also fought consistently against the Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush Mexico City policy that barred any foreign organization receiving U.S. foreign assistance from using its own funds or funds from other donors to perform abortions; advocate for the liberalization or decriminalization of abortion in laws and policies; or provide information, make referrals, or counsel women on the procedure—even in countries where abortion is legal. That policy was overturned by the Clinton Administration, reinstated by the Bush administration in 2001, and repealed by President Obama this year.