Significance

• The programs include institutions and research organizations dedicated to saving lives and preventing diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Some of the education focuses on the implications of sexual activity.
  
  

Application

• Organizations see health as a global issue and aim to serve populations vulnerable to disease, neglect and abuse.
  
  

Supporters

• Family Health International researches to deliver evidence-based programs. The Guttmacher Institute is a worldwide policy analysis and research center. And the United Nations Population Fund wants to ensure equal health and opportunity for humankind.
  
  

Objectors

• Individuals and groups that oppose abortion and contraception, two key facets of international family planning, are not supporters. They include Pastor Rick Warren and anti-choice websites such as LifeNews.com.
  
  

Political Issues

• President George W. Bush reinstated the global gag rule in 2001, restricting U.S. family planning assistance to foreign NGOs that performed abortions, provided counseling and referral for abortion, or lobbied to make abortion legal or more available in their country. President Barack Obama reversed the policy in spring 2009.