Morning Briefing

Politico Pro examines the reaction to a speech delivered by Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, at a TEDxChange conference in Berlin on April 5. "Gates's speech was primarily focused on explaining why family planning is important in the developing world," according to the news service. Gates said lack of access to modern contraceptives is "a life and death crisis" because with family planning, the lives of hundreds of thousands of women and children could be saved annually, the news service notes. "But multiple global health experts heard her comments as an intentional effort to push back on the politicization of birth control in the United States following the Obama administration's new contraception coverage policy, which they fear could spill over into global health policy," the news service writes. However, "Gates Foundation spokesman Chris Williams said Gates was simply reiterating her long-standing support for family planning and that viewing these remarks in light of domestic politics would be 'using the wrong lens,'" the article notes.