Foreign assistance by the United States is tangled with domestic politics, and perhaps this is most clear in relation to funding for health and family planning. The long arm of U.S. domestic politics has reached the intimate lives of women all over the world because it has threatened major cuts in funding to healthcare organizations in developing countries if they perform or promote abortions. This "global gag rule," so-called because to even mention abortion endangers funding, has been a hallmark of Republican administrations since it was first enacted by President Ronald Reagan. When Donald Trump reinstated and expanded the policy, there was popular uproar and a firestorm of debate. Proponents of the policy emphasize the importance of reducing the number of abortions globally and claim that the gag rule will be effective in achieving this goal. In this innovative book, Yana van der Meulen Rodgers argues that the gag rule has failed to achieve its goal of reducing abortions. Rather, the restrictive legislation is associated with higher abortion rates, and because the reduction in funding is indiscriminate there are negative repercussions across a range of health outcomes for women, children, and men. While the rhetoric in media discourse has been extreme, Rodgers provides systematic analysis of how the global gag rule affects women's reproductive health across developing regions, grounded in a conceptual framework that models the complex factors that influence women's decision making about fertility. She also traces the background to American policy, the evolution of international family planning programs, the links between contraceptive access and fertility rates, and the relationship between restrictive abortion laws and abortion rates. And because Rodgers provides a rounded perspective on factors influencing women's decisions on reproduction and abortion, she offers a constructive and cost-effective approach for U.S. family planning assistance that targets integrated reproductive health services.

New Dimensions in Women's Health, Fifth Edition, offers a practical approach to understanding the health of women-all races, ethnicities, socioeconomic status, cultures, and orientations. Objective and data-driven, the Fifth Edition provides solid guidance for women to optimize their well-being and prevent illness and impairment. Each chapter of this book comprehensively reviews an important dimension of a woman’s general health and examines the contributing epidemiological, historical, psychosocial, cultural/ethical, legal, political, and economic influences. Important Notice: The digital edition of this book is missing some of the images or content found in the physical edition.

A history of the World Health Organization, covering major achievements in its seventy years while also highlighting the organization's internal tensions. This account by three leading historians of medicine examines how well the organization has pursued its aim of everyone, everywhere attaining the highest possible level of health.

Through compelling and insightful analysis of the Russian case, this book explores the role that social welfare plays in regime transitions. It examines the role that gender and social welfare has played in Russia's post-communist political evolution from Yeltsin's assumption of the presidency to Putin's return for a third term as president in 2012

New Dimensions in Women's Health, Fifth Edition, offers a practical approach to understanding the health of women-all races, ethnicities, socioeconomic status, cultures, and orientations. Objective and data-driven, the Fifth Edition provides solid guidance for women to optimize their well-being and prevent illness and impairment. Each chapter of this book comprehensively reviews an important dimension of a woman’s general health and examines the contributing epidemiological, historical, psychosocial, cultural/ethical, legal, political, and economic influences.