Trump’s reimposition of the Global Gag Rule denies many vital reproductive healthcare

Critics say the policy has led to deep cuts in funding for family planning

By Kelly Blanchard & Evelyn Opondo
Feb 17, 2025

On 24 January, US President Donald Trump issued guidance to reinstate the Global Gag Rule (GGR). This policy will lead to harm and human rights violations for women, girls and people of all genders worldwide, affecting their sexual and reproductive rights and well-being.

The GGR, formally known as Mexico City Policy or the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy, originally put in place by former president Ronald Reagan and expanded under the first Trump administration, says organisations that receive US funding may not provide information about abortion or abortion care. Non-US based NGOs are ineligible for US government global health funding if they use their own funds to provide, refer for or promote access to abortion.

Continued: https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/2025-02-17-trumps-reimposition-of-the-global-gag-rule-denies-many-vital-reproductive-healthcare/

‘Gagging’ Abortion Access: The Global Threat of Trump’s Second Term to Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare

Ahead of Trump’s second term, 100+ international civil society organizations have joined together to demand the permanent repeal of the global gag rule.

1/20/2025
by Shoshanna Ehrlich

On the first anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Trump proclaimed he was “proud to be the most pro-life president in U.S history.” As he boasted on social media, this self-conferred accolade undoubtedly reflected his greatest antiabortion ‘accomplishment’—namely, that “50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade … and for the first time put the Pro Life movement in a strong negotiating position over the Radicals that are willing to kill babies even into their 9th month, and beyond.”

As well documented by the media, Trump’s second term presents a grave domestic threat to essential sexual and reproductive healthcare, which has already been decimated across wide swaths of the country. Considerably less attention, however, has been paid to the devastation his presidency will unleash worldwide when he undoubtedly reinstates the global gag rule, as it is anticipated he will do as a “day one” priority.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2025/01/20/trump-mexico-city-policy-global-gag-rule-abortion-us-foreign-aid/

20.01.2025

Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance

Trump expected to quickly revive ‘global gag rule’ on abortion

by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
01/19/25

President-elect Trump is expected to reinstate a controversial policy soon after taking office that would further bar foreign nongovernmental organizations that perform, counsel on or provide information on abortions abroad from receiving U.S. funding.

The Mexico City Policy, referred to as the global gag rule by its opponents, was first introduced during the second Reagan administration and has been rescinded by every Democratic president and reinstated by every Republican president since then. Trump previously restored the policy four days into his first term before President Biden rescinded it again a week into his own.

Continued: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5092735-trump-abortion-mexico-city-policy/

The Consequences of US Elections for Women’s Health Globally

A new viewpoint by BUSPH and Stanford University researchers highlights the profound consequences of US policy decisions on abortion for women in countries reliant on American global health aid.

October 29, 2024
By Nina Brooks, Eran Bendavid, and Grant Miller

Abortion is on the ballot in the 2024 US presidential election. After the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, numerous states have voted on ballot initiatives to expand or restrict access to abortion—with seven states voting on such measures in November. But hundreds of millions of women who live in countries that receive global health aid from the United States will also be affected by the November election—despite having no say in choosing the next president.

The Mexico City Policy, so called because it was announced at the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development held in Mexico City, was introduced by the Reagan Administration in 1984. When in effect, the policy restricts international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from discussing, promoting, or advocating abortion to receive US funding (relatedly, the Helms Amendment prohibits US funds from use to perform abortions).

Continued: https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2024/consequences-of-us-elections-for-womens-health-globally/

It’s time for a permanent repeal of the global gag rule

by Maniza Habib, opinion contributor
Sept 8, 2024

Project 2025, the policy agenda created by conservative activists and spearheaded by The Heritage Foundation, envisions sweeping changes to U.S. government policy. Among them, buried within the more than 900-page document, is a vast expansion of the global gag rule, which family planning providers across the world warn threatens abortion rights worldwide, even in countries where it is currently legal.

Project 2025 refers to the rule by its more innocuous sounding name, the “Mexico City Policy,” but a gag order is what it is. It prohibits foreign non-governmental organizations that receive U.S. funding from promoting, providing or referring patients to abortion services (with some exceptions for rape, incest and pregnancies that are life-threatening), or even advocating abortion law reform. Just mentioning the a-word would jeopardize their U.S. funding and their work, and for many non-profits, their very existence. So they aren’t allowed to talk about it.

Continued: https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4866475-project-2025-global-gag-rule/

08.09.2024

Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance

US anti-abortion “gag rule” hits women hard: what we found in Kenya and Madagascar

February 4, 2021
Sara E Casey, Emily A Maistrellis, Terry McGovern

US President Joe Biden has reversed a Trump administration policy that prohibited US funding for nongovernmental groups that provide or refer patients for abortions.

The Global Gag Rule, also known as the Mexico City Policy, was enacted in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan. Since its introduction, the policy has been instated by each Republican president and rescinded by each Democrat president.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/us-anti-abortion-gag-rule-hits-women-hard-what-we-found-in-kenya-and-madagascar-154434

The Biden Administration Is Repealing the Global Gag Rule. That’s Not Enough.

The chilling effect doesn’t go away just because a Democrat is in office.

By JOSHUA KEATING
JAN 28, 2021

On Thursday, Joe Biden is expected to participate in what’s become a regular post-inauguration ritual for U.S. presidents by signing an executive order repealing the Mexico City Policy, known by its opponents as the global gag rule, which prohibits U.S. funding to foreign nongovernmental organizations that provide abortion counseling or referrals. The policy is a textbook case of how the lives of people thousands of miles away can be directly affected by America’s culture wars. And while Biden’s move will be applauded by reproductive rights advocates and family planning service providers around the world, the uncertainty and instability the rule introduced will be hard to erase.

Continued: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/biden-global-gag-rule-mexico-city-policy.html

U.S. Global Gag Rule: Compounding women’s sexual reproductive right in developing countries?

November 22, 2020
By Sam Oditah

A 47-year-old single mother, Jane (surname withheld), lived in her dilapidated family house in a serene neighbourhood in Umuahia, the Abia capital. She relocated from Lagos in 2017 due to economic difficulties.

She lived with her 12-year-old daughter, Ebere, a junior secondary school student, and her aged auntie in a one-room apartment.

Painfully, Jane died on March 10 in rather sudden and bizarre circumstances.

Continued: https://naija247news.com/2020/11/22/u-s-global-gag-rule-compounding-womens-sexual-reproductive-right-in-developing-countries/#.X7rgzGhKhPY

Trump administration wants to expand international rule limiting abortion access

By Caroline Kelly, CNN
Mon September 14, 2020

(CNN)The Trump administration is pushing to expand its ban on funding for foreign nonprofits that perform or promote abortions, a move that critics say could further restrict health care access around the world.

In a move that will please President Donald Trump's base, the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration published the proposed rule on Monday to extend the "Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance" policy, which already encompasses global health grants and cooperative agreements, to apply to contracts. The rule already applies to the State Department, Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense and the US Agency for International Development.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/14/politics/trump-administration-expand-international-abortion-rule/index.html

International abortion rule led to lapsed health aid in some African countries, report shows

By Caroline Kelly, CNN
Thu August 20, 2020

(CNN) A State Department review of the Trump administration's policy to bar funding for foreign nonprofits that perform or promote abortions found it has also affected efforts to treat tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS and to deliver nutritional assistance, among other programs, and has had significant impact in sub-Saharan Africa.

The review, published Tuesday, looks at the impact of the Trump administration's 2017 decision to reinstate the "Mexico City Policy" -- which had previously impacted only family planning assistance -- and extend it to all applicable US global health funding under the "Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance" policy.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/abortion-global-rule-usaid-state-department/index.html