Hillary Clinton Talks Maternal Health

On August 23, the NY Times has a special issue of the their magazine dedicated to "Saving the World's Women." We've been waiting in anticipation of this issue -- salivating over the cover-to-cover coverage of topics focused on women. The issue is edited by Nicholas Kristof, one the biggest heros in our field, and it will include a preview of his book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. In a sneak peek of the issue, Hillary Clinton talks about "A New Gender Agenda." She has absolutely nailed our issues. When asked what the administration's priorities will be, she says:

We are having as a signature issue the fact that women and girls are a core factor in our foreign policy... So it’s not one specific program, so much as a policy. When it comes to our global health agenda, maternal health is now part of the Obama administration’s outreach...

...But women die every minute from poor maternal health care. You know, H.I.V./AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria — those are all, unfortunately, equal-opportunity killers. Maternal health is a woman’s issue; it’s a family issue; it’s a child issue. And for the United States to say to countries that have very high maternal mortality rates, “We care about the future of your children, and in order to do that, we care about the present of your women,” is a powerful statement.

A powerful statement, indeed. And one that Women Deliver is so thrilled and proud to hear out of Clinton's mouth.