Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., are urging the State Department to release hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to help women and infants affected by an Ebola outbreak in East Africa.
Ebola Outbreak in East Africa
In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the senators urged him to use $608 million in congressionally-approved international family-planning funds and distribute $1.7 million in already purchased family-planning supplies, including post-rape care medicine and hemorrhage medicines, to support women and infants in need.
The senators emphasized that Ebola during pregnancy is catastrophic, with a nearly 100 percent unborn child loss rate and catastrophic maternal mortality risk due to severe hemorrhaging. By providing women with the option to voluntarily prevent unplanned pregnancies and protect themselves from transmission of the virus, the United States can prevent further deaths of women and unborn children.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had reported 3,532 Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 1,556 deaths, representing a mortality rate of roughly 44%, as of July 29.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
