A letter from our
US President
Amanda Seller,
President, MSI United States
Earlier this year, on a chilly February day, I stood outside the US Capitol with a crowd of people protesting the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID.
For many of us living in DC, the disastrous end of US foreign aid is deeply personal. I spoke with people who saw firsthand, in their lives and careers, the good that we can do for the people we serve around the world—and the dire consequences when this funding is pulled away. Abruptly cutting off life-saving funds is painful, and staggeringly immoral.
But I’m proud to say that despite the news here in Washington, MSI Reproductive Choices is standing strong, thanks to the incredible generosity and commitment of our supporters in the United States and elsewhere. Women and girls are counting on us, and we will not let them down.
Our vision remains as bold today as it always has been: A world where no abortion is unsafe, and everyone who wants contraception can access it.
MSI Reproductive Choices fights for everyone to make their own decisions about their body, life and future. As a world-leading provider of contraception and abortion, we support tens of thousands of women and girls every day with their health and choices.
I’ve had the chance to meet some of our 9,000 team members, and their commitment to the women we serve is truly awe-inspiring. Rooted in their local communities across six continents, they scale mountains and cross rivers to bring reproductive healthcare to people in remote places who’ve never had access before. The result is transformative.
Opportunities unlocked for women and girls, who have the chance to choose the paths they want for themselves and their families.
My colleagues will tell you that it’s not enough to provide care once: We must create long-term change to achieve our vision of a world where everyone has choice.
That’s why we collaborate with governments and partners to build quality care in a way that’s sustainable. We combine the best of the commercial and non-profit worlds as a ‘social business’, generating income to further expand our services and impact—and believe me when I say many of our team members would be right at home in a corporate boardroom! And we boldly advocate for reproductive rights at all levels of government, from personal connections to village leaders to speaking out in global forums.
MSI has supported over 200 million people, and I’m so proud that with our generous supporters standing with us, we will continue to go further. Together, we’ll reach millions more each year with choices that transform lives, communities, and generations.
I hope you’ll join me in looking back at all we accomplished last year, and realizing how many lives we have touched. But I also hope you’ll join me in looking forward with courage. We are undaunted because you stand by our side.
*CYP = Couple Years of Protection is protection from pregnancy for one year.
Beth Schlachter is MSI’s Senior Director of US External Relations and has worked in the reproductive rights sector for 20 years. She explains her reaction to a second Trump presidency and why his foreign aid agenda presents the biggest challenge she’s seen yet:
We knew Trump wanted to change the US approach to development and humanitarian assistance, but few imagined the chaos of those first few months and how far beyond the global gag rule he would go. The programs of more than 10,000 organizations across over 120 countries were shut down overnight, abruptly ending life-saving care with no attempt to mitigate harm. People with deep technical expertise are out of jobs, important relationships that support health systems have been upended and much of the global health landscape has been gutted.
Meanwhile, anti-choice groups have been invigorated, and they’re actively exporting advocacy playbooks and money overseas. They want control over women’s bodies, and they won’t stop.
Many people around the world left in the lurch by these shocking decisions are looking to organizations still operating – like MSI – to continue to deliver services by any means possible. We’re at a precipice and it’s essential that organizations like ours are speaking out and pushing back – especially with so many other organizations silenced or facing closure. In my decades working in global health, this is the biggest challenge I’ve seen yet.
But we are ready for this moment. MSI has the experience, data and expertise to continue pushing forward, and we’re laser-focused on holding the line on reproductive rights.
So that we can diminish the influence of erratic US decisions in future, we’re finding new ways to shift power and capacity to local groups and national governments wherever possible. We also advocate ‘by doing’: our teams continue to show up and provide care. We’re opening our blue doors to anyone who needs our services. And we’re gathering and using data and insights to show why this work is so important.
The solidarity we’ve seen across the global health sector is holding firm. There are many people, organizations and governments on the right side of history who believe in upholding healthcare, international aid, and the right of everyone to have agency over their own lives.
We can’t sugarcoat what’s happening, but we’re not powerless – we just have to keep showing up. Moments like this bring us together and push us to be bolder. Braver.
Women and girls – people neither you nor I will ever meet – are counting on MSI for services that support their rights, their lives and futures, and I want to say to them: we won’t go away just because it got harder. Nothing important is ever easy.”
Jennifer is a senior staff midwife in the Ghana Health Service. Trained by MSI on providing quality abortion care and contraceptive choice through the public health system, she proudly supports women and girls in her community.
“At our small local facility, I start my work as a midwife at 8am. Antenatal care, postnatal care, birth delivery… anything to do with midwifery, we are good to go. Now I provide comprehensive abortion care as well.
It’s a noble profession. But when it has to do with abortion, there’s this stigma attached. People ask why a midwife should provide abortion. Some see abortion as a sin because of their religion or beliefs. Previously we even had staff at this public health facility that would turn abortion clients away saying, ‘We don’t do that here. This is an abomination.’ People in our community were reluctant to come to our facility for safe services because of these staff members’ views.
Then we had training organized by MSI. One part was a Values Clarification and Attitude Training called VCAT, which was helpful because we had staff coming for the training who held misconceptions and had not clarified their values.
We talked through examples, like if a girl gets pregnant and resorts to an unsafe abortion. We wouldn’t want that. We don’t want people to be dying, people to be doing their own abortions when they can come to us for comprehensive care, for safe care. After my training with MSI, I started talking about abortion during home visits and girls were confiding in me. I told one of my supervisors that the values training should be given to all health workers.
We also learned comprehensive abortion care, both surgical and medical, through MSI’s training. We learned to provide counseling, understand the level of gestation, know the complications, and provide services. We can now explain this all to people beforehand, and they can make a choice.
I think pregnancy should be a choice. Maybe you’re not aware of contraception, or there’s been a mistake. You are a student who wants to pursue your education, or you’re married but want to continue working at your job. Then you are pregnant. I should be there for you. I will counsel you. I will provide the service, then you move on in life.
I remember one girl… she was pregnant and came in with her stepmother. She couldn’t speak up. So we asked the stepmother to excuse us so that we could talk to the girl alone, and we found out she was raped. Her stepmother said she has to give birth, but the girl doesn’t want to. She wants to go to school. If we help her, at the end of the day she’ll go back to school and pursue her dreams. So of course we supported her with the abortion she wanted, and when I saw her again two months later, she was wearing her school uniform – I was so happy.
A lot of girls talk to me about their health. They call me. Sometimes we talk about their menstrual cycle, their reproductive health, contraception. I tell them, when they are ready, they can come to me anytime. If they know people who didn’t intend to get pregnant and pregnancy comes, they can bring them to me, and I will help them. Whatever, wherever, I can deliver. I am always proud to be an abortion provider.”
Across 22 countries, 12,800 government health workers have been trained by MSI to provide quality reproductive choices in their communities. Last year, these local public providers supported 8.2 million people with reproductive choice.
This moment is critical. The US government – the largest funder of global aid – has now stepped away from their commitment to global health and development. This is no longer about filling gaps; it’s a complete reset of the future of international development. Right now, health systems are at breaking point, human rights are being rolled back, and life-saving health programs have ground to a halt. The world’s poorest people and communities are paying the price, from women on the frontline of climate devastation in Senegal to survivors of gender- based violence in Afghanistan.
Those of us who believe in a woman’s right to choose and in building a fairer, healthier world need to step forward as leaders at this crucial precipice.
MSI is showing up in solidarity and with solutions. We know that sexual and reproductive healthcare is a bedrock of a sustainable, gender-equal, healthy and stable future – one where every woman’s life is defined by choice and dignity. And with our established, high-quality programs across the globe, we can deliver it.
To unite and fight for choice at this critical time, we invite you to protect women’s access to healthcare and transform lives with a donation or by partnering with us.
Your investment in sexual and reproductive health is a vital force for social change. Together we can improve the health of women, families and communities by reaching millions more women and girls with the power of choice.
I chose to use contraception to be able to manage my children, their education and their health. To be able to have more time for self-care. A young woman has dreams and wishes. She cannot only give birth.”Ferhana, MSI Afghanistan client
For just $6.50, you can provide someone their choice of contraception for a year, giving them control over their future.
Your body.
Your education.
Your career.
Your future.
You should decide what you do with them.
And yet, for millions of women worldwide, that choice is impossible.
Because they cannot access the contraception they want,
or the safe abortions they need.
Paying with their potential, and even their lives.
Reproductive choice, and the freedom it affords,
is a fundamental human right.
And that is why we fight for it.
Through our clinics, services, and our partnerships, we make choice possible.
We believe that a world in which every woman can choose when and if she has children,
is a fairer, safer and more sustainable one.
We open doors.
We break down stigma.
And we go further than anyone else to make sure everyone who needs us
can decide their own future, on their own terms.
Until every girl is respected.
Until every woman is empowered.
Until every pregnancy is wanted.
Until no-one is left behind.