Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, on Monday the Earth's 7 billionth person was born. Our population has doubled in the last 50 years, and it could double again by the end of the century if we let it.
This rapid growth is straining water and food supplies, reducing access to health care and education, and even creating instability and violence.
Most importantly, this growth is denying women in nations like Yemen and Afghanistan, who still average more than five children, their basic human right to decide if, when, and how many children to have; 215 million women around the world say they want access to contraception but can't get it. We can fulfill that need and save lives, improve lives, and save tax dollars while we do it.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, meeting this unmet need for family planning could save the lives of 251,000 women and 1.7 million newborns, improve rates of education and health, and save a net total of $1.5 billion.
America can lead the world in family planning as it once did, but we have to increase our investment in international family planning.