Bill is a senior-level Philanthropy, Communications, and Marketing leader in the INGO sector. He currently serves as the Head of Individual Philanthropy at IPPF, building strategic partnerships to support its global mission.
Articles by Bill Lane
An ode to medication abortion
On this International Safe Abortion Day, we celebrate mifepristone and Misoprostol: the tiny tablets making abortion safer and more accessible to women around the world. In June of 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court rolled back the constitutional right to an abortion with the Dobbs decision, many people took to the streets in protest — and many of the signs they carried featured wire hangers. Why wire hangers? It harkened back to the years before Roe v. Wade when abortion was illegal, and women seeking to end their pregnancies often risked unsafe procedures that threatened their health and lives. Fortunately, the wire hanger has less relevance today in the US than it did in 1973. And that’s because of a game-changing advancement in reproductive care that was first introduced about 30 years ago: medication abortion, also known as medical abortion or the “abortion pill.” Abortion using medication, also known as medical abortion, usually involves taking two different drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, which are taken in sequence. Mifepristone stops further development of the pregnancy, and misoprostol induces uterine contractions to expel the pregnancy tissue. The use of misoprostol alone has also proven an effective and safe way to end a pregnancy, which is especially important in extending access in countries where mifepristone is more difficult to obtain. Around the world, these tiny pills are revolutionizing abortion access for several reasons: They are generally less expensive than a procedure, putting abortion within financial reach for people and communities that otherwise couldn’t afford it. They require less medical training and equipment. They can be taken in the comfort and privacy of one’s home. They offer the pregnant person choice in abortion services options in instances where both procedural abortion and medical abortion are available.
2024 is the biggest global election year in history. What will it mean for reproductive health, rights and justice?
Election season is heating up. As headlines in the U.S. swirl with updates about presidential campaigns, pop star endorsements, implications for our democracy, and of course, for abortion rights, it is easy to forget that the United States is not alone. Ours is but one of at least 64 national, presidential, or parliamentary elections that will take place this year, with half the world’s population heading to the polls. That makes 2024 the biggest and most consequential global election year in history. A consequential global election year. From Taiwan to Russia and from Malawi to France, each election will have significant implications for human rights, including women’s rights. It is fair to say that around the world, bodies are on the ballot. When it comes to the global movement for bodily autonomy, progress can look very different around the world. In some countries it can take the form of pro-abortion legislation, while in others it can be as basic as acknowledging that women have a right to make decisions about their own bodies. Regression, on the other hand, looks the same in every country: it looks like the far right. The political climate leading up to elections in several countries, including the U.S., has demonstrated a troubling resurgence of support for far-right parties and other anti-rights groups. This was especially true of the parliamentary elections in Europe earlier this year. Far-right parties made huge gains across all 27 member states, including Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. In France, a stunning 38% of votes were cast for far-right parties. The U.S. is a bold participant, perhaps even an agitator, of this global far-right resurgence. We are all too familiar with the regressive, anti-immigrant, anti-trans, anti-reproductive-freedom, and anti-progress rhetoric that is characteristic of a far right campaign. But one important thing sets our election apart from others experiencing similar stakes: The U.S. 2024 election has the power to impact the bodily autonomy of people around the world—not just those within our borders. And that’s because of a policy called the “Mexico City Policy,” also known as the Global Gag Rule.
Two Years After Roe v. Wade’s Reversal, the Whole World is Feeling Its Effects
It’s been two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, revoking the constitutional right to an abortion. With U.S. headlines dominated by the “abortion wars,” it’s easy to forget that on a global scale, the rollback of women’s health and rights has put the U.S. in a lonely category: it is one of only four nations to restrict abortion access in decades, alongside El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Poland. The vast majority of nations are on an opposite trajectory towards expanding sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). In fact, over the past 30 years, more than 60 countries have brought down legal barriers to abortion. But the global trend towards liberalizing abortion is happening at the same time as a sinister counterforce: an anti-rights movement that wants to erode bodily autonomy. The fall of Roe has emboldened and invigorated these regressive forces around the globe, throwing a dangerous wrench in progress for many countries where activists, advocacy groups, and healthcare organizations have been fighting for years to chip away at stigmas and laws that stand in the way of abortion access.