Trump left international abortion rights in shambles, activists say. Can Biden undo the damage?

Biden vowed to repeal the ‘global gag rule,’ but Trump’s ‘anti-woman rhetoric’ isn’t necessarily going away

Urooba Jamal
Jan. 19, 2021

In 2019, Melvine Ouyo, a health policy expert and reproductive rights activist, attended a conference in her city of Nairobi, where antiabortion campaigners were protesting the event. Shortly after that, Ouyo said, she met a pregnant 14-year old girl who had no information about how she could access a safe abortion if she chose.

Ouyo said she believes that if the Trump administration’s “global gag rule” — a U.S. foreign aid policy that restricts funding for abortion-related services — had not been in place, the campaigners wouldn’t have had such a prominent platform, and the girl would have had more information about her reproductive health options.

Continued: https://www.thelily.com/trump-left-international-abortion-rights-in-shambles-activists-say-can-biden-undo-the-damage/

Trump’s Proposal to Further Expand Global Gag Rule Amid Pandemic Would Cut Off Healthcare Access to Millions, Rights Groups Warn

"Study after study—including from the State Department—has demonstrated that this neocolonialist policy has inflicted a crushing blow to healthcare access for people around the world."

by Julia Conley, staff writer, Common Dreams
Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Reproductive rights advocates on Tuesday warned that a newly proposed expansion of the anti-choice global gag rule will put millions at even greater risk of being unable to access healthcare including abortion care.

The U.S. State Department on Monday entered into the Federal Register a proposed policy change which would refuse global health aid through federal government contracts to foreign healthcare groups that provide abortion care or counseling.

Continued: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/15/trumps-proposal-further-expand-global-gag-rule-amid-pandemic-would-cut-healthcare

Landmark measure to repeal ‘racist,’ anti-choice Jesse Helms amendment hailed as step to a ‘more equitable world’

July 30, 2020
By Common Dreams

“Abortion care is healthcare and healthcare is a fundamental human right.”

Reproductive rights advocates on Wednesday cheered the introduction of the first-ever legislation to repeal the Helms Amendment, which has prevented millions of women across the globe from accessing safe abortion care.

Introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), the “Abortion Is Health Care Everywhere Act” would rescind the 1973 amendment that blocks U.S. foreign aid funding for abortion and would help support comprehensive reproductive healthcare for women worldwide.

Continued: https://www.rawstory.com/2020/07/landmark-measure-to-repeal-racist-anti-choice-jesse-helms-amendment-hailed-as-step-to-a-more-equitable-world/

USA – Everything You Need to Know About the Helms Amendment’s Restriction on Abortion Funding

Everything You Need to Know About the Helms Amendment’s Restriction on Abortion Funding
Reproductive health, rights, and justice advocates say the Helms Amendment's ban on using foreign assistance funds for abortion deserves more attention.

Aug 23, 2019
Ally Boguhn

Abortion rights are a high-profile issue for Democrats on the 2020 presidential campaign trail. Candidates have stated their opposition to abortion funding restrictions like the Hyde Amendment and the Trump administration’s expanded global “gag rule.” But little attention has been paid in the race or the media to the Helms Amendment, a ban on foreign assistance funding for abortion.

Rewire.News asked the 2020 candidates about their stance on the anti-choice policy; ten thus far say they oppose it. The Helms Amendment—named for its sponsor, the late-Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC)—states, “No foreign assistance funds may be used to pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions.” The abortion funding ban was passed as part of the Foreign Assistance Act in 1973 in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion in the United States.

Continued: https://rewire.news/article/2019/08/23/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-helms-amendments-restriction-on-abortion-funding/

Trump’s State Department Erases Reproductive Rights From Human Rights Report

Apr 23, 2018
Ally Boguhn

The U.S. State Department’s annual human rights report this year omitted reproductive rights, sparking outcry from advocates.

The report, titled “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017,” is meant to “document the status of human rights and worker rights in nearly 200 countries and territories” and is “used by a variety of actors, including the U.S. Congress, the executive branch, and the judicial branch as a factual resource for decision making in matters ranging from assistance to asylum.”

Continued: https://rewire.news/article/2018/04/23/trumps-state-department-erases-reproductive-rights-human-rights-report/

USA – Rights Advocates Decry ‘Unconscionable’ State Dept Decision to Cut Women’s Rights From Annual Report

Rights Advocates Decry 'Unconscionable' State Dept Decision to Cut Women's Rights From Annual Report
"This development is a transparent attempt by the Trump administration to not only de-prioritize reproductive rights, but effectively erase them from the broader conversation on human rights."

by Julia Conley, staff writer
Published on Thursday, February 22, 2018
by Common Dreams

Human rights groups on Thursday denounced the State Department's plans to re-frame its upcoming global human rights report, paring down its focus on women's reproductive rights and discrimination—saying the decision is clear evidence that the rights of marginalized groups are insignificant to the Trump administration.

“Reproductive rights are human rights," said Tarah Demant, Amnesty International USA's director of gender, sexuality, and identity, in a statement. "This development is a transparent attempt by the Trump administration to not only de-prioritize reproductive rights, but effectively erase them from the broader conversation on human rights. We must not let this attack on basic rights go unchallenged."

Continued: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/02/22/rights-advocates-decry-unconscionable-state-dept-decision-cut-womens-rights-annual-0#

USA – State Department Erases Reproductive Rights Section From Annual Report

State Department Erases Reproductive Rights Section From Annual Report
The section on racial and sexual discrimination will also be trimmed.

02/22/2018
By Laura Bassett

NEW YORK― President Donald Trump’s State Department has been ordered to strip language about women’s reproductive rights from its annual global human rights report, Politico reported on Thursday.

The report, compiled each year with information from U.S. embassies around the world, typically details the lack of contraception and abortion access in various countries and sheds light on racial and sexual discrimination.

Continued: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/state-department-womens-reproductive-rights_us_5a8eeb5ce4b0746ba2acef1e

USA: Family planning advocacy group says R-J shunned ads

Family planning advocacy group says R-J shunned ads

By Camalot Todd
Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018

Ads for an advocacy group promoting safe family planning practices and criticizing President Donald Trump ran in newspapers across the country recently but were turned away by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The ads from Population Connection Action Fund were pulled by newspaper management after the content disapproving of Trump’s decision to reinstate and expand the global gag rule was revealed, said Brian Dixon, senior vice president of media and government relations for the group.

Continued: https://lasvegassun.com/news/2018/feb/14/family-planning-advocacy-group-says-r-j-shunned-ad/

U.S.: Senate Committee Votes Against Administration on Anti-Abortion Global Gag Rule

Senate Committee Votes Against Administration on Anti-Abortion Global Gag Rule

By Ruby Mellen
September 7, 2017

In a vote that marks a rejection of the Trump administration’s foreign aid budget and approach to family planning policy abroad, the Senate Appropriations Committee moved Thursday to reinstate funding for the United Nations Population Fund and overturn the global gag rule, a longstanding Republican policy that forbids U.S. support for international health organizations that offer or discuss abortion services.

Continued at source: foreign Policy: http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/07/senate-votes-against-administration-on-anti-abortion-global-gag-rule/