Congresswoman Houlahan Reintroduces Support UNFPA Funding Act

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), along with 45 co-sponsors, has newly introduced the Support UNFPA Funding Act—an updated version of a bill that she introduced in the House of Representatives in 2021 and again in 2023. The bill authorizes $50 million in funding for FY 2026 and $55 million for 2027 and specifies that the funds cannot be canceled once appropriated—an obvious and pointed reaction to the Trump administration’s ongoing vandalism of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its vital humanitarian and development work around the world.

UNFPA improves sexual and reproductive health and rights globally

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the UN sexual and reproductive health agency. Its mission is “to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.” It works with partners in more than 150 countries to provide access to family planning and maternity care, address child marriage and gender-based violence, and end harmful practices like female genital mutilation. In 2023, the United States provided nearly $195 million in funding — $30.6 million in core support (the type of funding Rep. Houlahan’s bill authorizes) and another $164 million in grants for other projects.

Trump ended UNFPA funding soon after taking office

The Trump administration terminated all US funding for UNFPA at the end of February, meaning that dozens of its programs, including those providing vital humanitarian services in emergency settings, have been forced to suspend their lifesaving work.

In announcing the reintroduction of the bill, Rep. Houlahan made the following statement:

“The UNFPA’s essential and lifesaving work has been hit hard by the chaos of the Trump Administration’s foreign aid freeze. Several of UNFPA’s programs with U.S. support have been subject to a confusing mix of funding suspensions, stop work orders, humanitarian waivers and agreement terminations. This whiplash has caused unnecessary death and suffering for pregnant mothers and their newborns. As a third-generation veteran, I know that our national security starts with the health of women and girls and their families. When women and girls are healthy, have access to education, and have good opportunities, it leads to a more peaceful world. Our first line of defense is taking care of people, and I am extremely disappointed to see the Trump Administration abandoning our commitments to communities across the globe.”

Speaking up for reproductive rights when it matters most

Rep. Houlahan’s bill obviously has no chance of advancing in this Congress, given its general hostility to both reproductive freedom and the very notion of doing anything to save the lives of marginalized people around the world.

So why introduce it now, during a time when supporters of reproductive health and family planning are out of power? When we are trapped under an administration that treats foreign aid like a risible concept? When it feels like every hour brings some new, increasingly horrifying catastrophe in US politics?

Because now is when it’s most needed.

Now, when there is so much else to worry about, is when already-vulnerable people are most at risk. Any retreat, any missed opportunity to step forward and speak up for what matters is a betrayal. We know that no matter what this administration says, everyone deserves bodily autonomy and the right to control their reproductive future. That no one deserves to die giving birth or be married off as a child or be subject to violence because of their gender.

Now is when we tell this administration—and the millions of Americans who are on our side—that we are still here. We are still fighting. We won’t ever stop.

Population Connection Action Fund endorsed the Support UNFPA Funding Act along with 30 other reproductive health and social justice organizations. See our quote and the full list of endorsing organizations here.