Monthly Archives: February 2004

Netherlands Ends Free Contraception Program

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The Netherlands recently ended its policy of providing free contraception to all women over the age of 21.

The free contraception policy, in combination with aggressive sexual education programs, was widely credited with the Netherlands having the lowest teenage pregnancy and abortion rates in Europe.

Teen pregnancy and abortion in the Netherlands has grown in recent years, but that increase is largely due to immigration — 60 percent of abortions in the Netherlands are obtained by members of ethnic minorities.

The government cited the high cost of maintaining the birth control subsidy as the reason for eliminating it.

Source:

Dutch abandon free contraception for all. Angus Roxburgh, BBC News, January 15, 2004.

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What a Difference a War Makes for Women in Afghanistan

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All those dead Taliban fighters are probably going to be spinning in their graves with stuff like this happening in Afghanistan,

The [voter registration] process started last December and, so far, around 22 percent of the 320,770 Afghans who signed up to vote are women. Up to 10 million people are estimated to be eligible to register to vote in the country.

That, and Kabul Television recently broadcast the first images of a woman singing in more than 12 years

Source:

Number Of Afghan Women Registered To Vote Increases. UN Wire, July 13, 2004.

Afghans lift TV ban on women singers. Sayed Salahuddin, Reuters, January 13, 2004.

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