The Orbis

Issue date: 2/18/09 Section: News/Features

In the first days of his presidency, President Obama sharply differentiated himself from his predecessor by rescinding the Mexico City Policy. Known more commonly as the global gag rule, the policy withheld US aid to foreign reproductive care agencies that offered abortion services. By ending the restriction, Obama signaled that the United States would recommit itself to worldwide comprehensive care and reproductive rights.

The global gag rule was first announced as an executive order by President Reagan in the 1980s. It was a divisive policy that President Clinton repealed in 1993 and President George W. Bush re-implemented in 2001. Under the policy, family planning organizations working in third world countries were forced to either opt out of US aid and take drastic budget cuts or eliminate abortion-related services, even in countries where abortion was legal.

Pro-life advocates contend that Obama’s decision to repeal the executive order will lead to more abortions around the world. However, the numbers over the past eight years have borne out the opposite result: the global gag rule actually caused illegal abortion rates to rise, since underfunded reproductive rights groups could no longer distribute contraceptives or offer counseling.

The gag rule withheld US federal aid from nongovernmental organizations and family planning agencies if they performed, discussed, or promoted legal abortion services, even if the abortions were funded by the organizations themselves instead of US funds. The Bush administration even refused funding to NGOs that offered abortion-related counseling with money provided by other foreign governments.

Pressured by the Bush administration,  the groups who accepted the gag rule stopped offering safe abortions and comprehensive family planning services. As a result, the number of dangerous abortions performed throughout Africa multiplied in the last eight years. In addition to ceasing abortions, NGOs that participated could no longer offer abortion referrals nor advocate for pro-choice policies in the countries they were assisting.

The gag rule’s impact was even greater on the organizations who refused to sign the anti-abortion pledge. Reproductive health care groups who stood up to the US policy faced drastic cuts in funding. For example, the Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia opted out of US aid in order to keep contributing to the Ethiopian government’s policy debates on legalized abortion, and as a result lost over 35 percent of their resources.

Ethiopia, Zambia, Kenya, and Ghana are among the countries most affected by the funding restrictions. With the loss of support in these countries, clinics were forced to shut down, contraceptive distribution services were eliminated, and education outreach programs were compromised. The Global Gag Rule Impact Project found that HIV/AIDS outbreaks increased in Africa as a result of these decreased services.

When the gag rule was in effect, the main criteria for funding was whether a group was anti-abortion. Now that the gag rule has been lifted, family planning groups and governments can choose the partnerships and services that are the most cost-effective, high quality, and catered to the cultural needs of a country.

Instead of making difficult decisions between cutting services or defying US dictates, groups like Planned Parenthood Federation, Pathfinder International, and Engender Health can now resume their full regimen of services to reduce disease transmission and abortion rates. Obama has lifted a major global barrier to reproductive rights, and we will surely see positive ramifications in the years to come.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools