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Putting Politics Before Public Health: The Global Gag Rule
What is the Global Gag Rule?
The Global Gag Rule denies family planning funds to any foreign nongovernmental organization that uses its own (non-U.S.) money to provide legal abortion services or counseling, gives referrals on safe abortion options, provides facts about the consequences of unsafe abortion, or participates in public debate, no matter how informal, that might improve access to safe services. The Gag Rule does not, however, prohibit speech against abortion. The policy applies even if abortion is permitted by local laws, and even if organizations use non-U.S. money for any of the activities listed above.
For example
- Organizations cannot do any research to determine how many women die or are injured as a result of unsafe abortion in their countries, and cannot publicize those statistics.
- Even if abortion is legal (as it is in most countries in the world under certain circumstances), organizations are prohibited from giving women information about where they might obtain a safe, legal procedure.
- An organization that receives any funds from the United States-which is the largest bilateral donor in many countries-faces what one local leader calls "Sophie's Choice": The group must either knowingly withhold information and services from often desperate women, or risk losing what is often the bulk of its funding.
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| Women from 59 countries gathered in front of the White House to protest the Global Gag Rule during the April 2004 March for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C. |
A Short History of a Long Debate
In 1984 President Ronald Reagan imposed the Global Gag Rule (GGR) on USAID funds. The policy is also known as the "Mexico City Policy" because it was announced by the Administration at an international population conference in Mexico.
On his first day in office in 1993, President Bill Clinton lifted the restrictions, though under a Republican controlled Congress did sign the GGR into law for one year - the first and only time the policy has been law. President George W. Bush gave an early indication of his Administration's policies toward women in the developing world when he reinstated the Gag Rule on the first full day of his presidency in 2001. Subsequently, President Bush tried to extend the gag rule's reach by attaching it to the Global HIV/AIDS Act, but public outcry forced the Administration to back down, citing a desire to keep global HIV/AIDS funds separate from "abortion politics." The President then issued an executive order in August 2003 that expanded the Gag Rule to include organizations receiving money through the U.S. Department of State. These funds go to groups serving some of the most vulnerable women in the world: refugees and migrants displaced by war and civil unrest, who are often the victims of rape and sexual violence.
The Truth about the Global Gag Rule
Opponents of abortion claim that the Gag Rule merely prevents U.S. support for abortion overseas-but using U.S. tax dollars to fund abortions overseas has been illegal since 1973 under the so-called Helms amendment. Thus, in practice, the Global Gag Rule primarily impacts comprehensive reproductive health services. It does nothing to reduce the incidence of abortion, because it does nothing to reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancy. Quite the opposite, the funding ban forces clinics that offer women access to contraceptives and vital health services-often the only existing clinics in underserved areas of countries with weak public health systems-to cut back their services or even, in some cases, to close. It thus denies women access to contraception, counseling, referrals, and accurate health information, causing more unwanted pregnancies, more unsafe abortions, and arguably, more deaths. In addition, it reflects the Bush administration's willingness to let ideology trump sound public health policy.
The Global Gag Rule’s Impact on Free Speech
The Global Gag Rule shows a willingness to impose restrictions on foreign organizations and withhold information and services from foreign women that would be considered unacceptable, and, in some cases, would be illegal in the United States. The Global Gag Rule is an attack on free speech and is in direct conflict with the Bush administration's frequently stated commitment to promoting democratic values and civil society institutions overseas.
The Global Gag Rule's Impact on HIV Prevention
Comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services should include HIV prevention because of the synergistic work of protecting sexual and reproductive rights and preventing the spread of HIV. Funding restrictions, such as the Global Gag Rule, place onerous limitations on organizations' flexibility to maximize the support from different funding streams to improve reproductive health services. The Gag Rule also makes collaborations between PEPFAR-funded programs and those funded by bilateral family planning difficult or impossible further limiting access to reproductive and sexual healthcare.
Overturning the Global Gag Rule
Together with a number of organizations, IWHC is working to build support for congressional efforts to overturn the Global Gag Rule, and to block further expansion. In early 2003, we were part of the successful mobilization to thwart the Bush administration's attempts to attach it to the $15-billion Global HIV/AIDS Act.
More recently, urged on by IWHC and colleague organizations, Congress took steps to reduce the negative impact of the Global Gag Rule. In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to modify it so that organizations that were ineligible for U.S. assistance under the GGR could at least receive contraceptive products to provide to their clients. The Senate supported this provision and, additionally, passed a provision to overturn the entire policy. But because the Administration threatened to veto all the funding for foreign assistance programs - and because there are not enough votes in Congress to override that veto - this language, which would have been a positive step, was removed from the bill.
Much work remains to be done, and we need your help to do it.
What You Can Do>>
Take action. Support the Global Democracy Promotion Act! Contact your Senators and Member of Congress and ask them to cosponsor this legislation that effectively overturns the Global Gag Rule. For more information on the bill, click here.
Stay informed. For more information about the Global Gag Rule, as well as other Bush administration policies that are undermining women's and girls' health worldwide, visit Bush's Other War, our regularly updated factsheet. For information on bills before the 110th Congress that could affect women at home and abroad, visit Stay Informed, Take Action, our congressional factsheet. Click here for more information about IWHC’s commitment to expanding access to safe abortion.
Donate to IWHC. IWHC is one of the few donors worldwide providing support for organizations that raise awareness about the consequences of unsafe abortion and work to expand access to safe services. By supporting us, you will strengthen our support for these groups. Click here to make a contribution.
Spread the word. You can email this page to a friend by clicking on the link in the top right corner.
Links of Interest
Access Denied: U.S. Restrictions on International Family Planning
"Access Denied" is a project documenting the ground-level impact of the Global Gag Rule. The "Access Denied" website provides background on the Global Gag Rule and compiles testimonies, video clips, and case studies of its impact on women living in Kenya, Ethiopia, Romania, and Zambia. Available online here.
Breaking the Silence: The Global Gag Rule’s Impact on Unsafe Abortion
Prepared by the Center for Reproductive Rights, "Breaking the Silence" distills the results of over 100 interviews conducted in Ethiopia, Kenya, Peru, and Uganda, identifying eight hardships that the gag rule inflicts on local advocates struggling to respond to the daily tragedy of unsafe abortion. Available online here.
Reports from the “Action to Reduce Maternal Mortality in Africa” Regional Consultation on Unsafe Abortion
A forceful condemnation of the Global Gag Rule was signed by 112 participants in a multidisciplinary consultation on maternal mortality and unsafe abortion held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in March 2003. Background is available on the Ipas website here.
What You Need To Know About the Global Gag Rule Restrictions on U.S. Family Planning Assistance
Report from Population Action International, available online here.
The Global Gag Rule Threatens International Family Planning Programs
Article by Susan A. Cohen from the Guttmacher Report, published by the Guttmacher Institute, available online here.
This factsheet last updated in February 2008. For more information, contact Whitney Welshimer at 212-979-8500 or wwelshimer@iwhc.org.
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