HR 2811

Summary: The Repairing Young Women's Lives Around the World Act would direct a voluntary $34 million contribution from the United States to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, strictly for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of women with obstetric fistula.

What You Should Know: Two million women worldwide—the majority of them living in Africa—suffer from obstetric fistula, a debilitating condition caused by several days of obstructed labor without timely medical support. It is particularly common in young women—most of them child brides—who become pregnant before their bodies have had a chance to develop fully. In most cases, the baby dies, and the mother is left with chronic incontinence. She is often abandoned by her husband and family and left to withstand her condition alone, with little hope of social support or access to medical treatment. Yet obstetric fistula is easily to prevent and easy to treat.

Primary Sponsor(s): Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)

Introduction Date: 6/8/2005

Last Major Action:

6/8/2005. Referred to the House Committee on International Relations.