Journal of Science Policy & Governance | Volume 18, Issue 01 | March 24, 2021

Policy Memo: Permanently Repealing the Global Gag Rule Will Internationally Advance Reproductive and Sexual Health

Roshni Varma

University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, Los Angeles, CA

Corresponding author: roshnivarma23@g.ucla.edu
Download PDF
https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG180114
Keywords: Global Gag Rule; abortion; foreign policy; reproductive justice; HIV/AIDS
Executive Summary: The Global Gag Rule bans foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive U.S. global health assistance funding from providing abortion services and referrals, advocating for abortion rights, or funding other organizations that provide abortion-related services. The rule presents a double bind: if NGOs elect to continue providing abortion-related care, they must forgo U.S. funding, requiring them to roll back services across the board. This reduces access to contraceptives, family planning resources, and maternal and child healthcare. The alternate option is to shut down abortion-related care to retain U.S. funding. Thus, the rule is ineffective in its purpose as it creates barriers to comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare, leading to increases in unintended pregnancies, abortions, and newborn and maternal death rates. In addition, restricted funding has negative implications for HIV/AIDS and reproductive cancer screening and treatment. The rule is currently implemented and repealed by each incoming president using executive orders. The United States Congress should pass the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights Act and repeal the Helms Amendment. This will permanently revoke the Global Gag Rule and reduce unintended pregnancies, abortions, and child and maternal mortality rates across the world.

-Read the full article through download.-
Download PDF

References

  1. Ahmed, Zara. 2020. “The Unprecedented Expansion of the Global Gag Rule: Trampling Rights, Health and Free Speech.” The Guttmacher Institute. April 28, 2020. https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2020/04/unprecedented-expansion-global-gag-rule-trampling-rights-health-and-free-speech
  2. Barot, Sneha. 2017. “The Benefits of Investing in International Family Planning–and the Price of Slashing Funding.” The Guttmacher Institute. August 1, 2017. https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2017/08/benefits-investing-international-family-planning-and-price-slashing-funding#
  3. Bendavid, Eran, Patrick Avila, and Grant Miller. 2011. “United States aid policy and induced abortion in sub-Saharan Africa.” Bulletin World Health Organization 89 (12): 873-880C. https://dx.doi.org/10.2471%2FBLT.11.091660
  4. Bingenheimer, Jeffrey B., and Patty Skuster. 2017. “The Foreseeable Harms of Trump’s Global Gag Rule.” Studies in Family Planning 48 (3). https://doi.org/10.1111/sifp.12030
  5. Boonstra, Heather D. 2019. “The Global HER Act Would Repeal the Harmful Global Gag Rule.” The Guttmacher Institute. February 7, 2009. https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2019/02/global-her-act-would-repeal-harmful-global-gag-rule
  6. Center for Health and Gender Equity. 2018. “Prescribing Chaos in Global Health: The Global Gag Rule From 1984-2018.” June 2018. https://srhrforall.org/download/prescribing-chaos-in-global-health-the-global-gag-rule-from-1984-2018/?wpdmdl=1064&refresh=5f73775d105c41601402717
  7. Center for Reproductive Rights. n.d. “The World’s Abortion Laws.” Accessed January 2021. https://reproductiverights.org/worldabortionlaws
  8. Dennis, Rebecca. 2020. “The Helms Amendment: You Should Have Been Gone by Now.” PAI. July 30, 2020. https://pai.org/resources/the-helms-amendment-you-should-have-been-gone-by-now/
  9. Dreweke, Joerg. 2016. “New Clarity for the U.S. Abortion Debate: A Steep Drop in Unintended Pregnancy Is Driving Recent Abortion Declines.” The Guttmacher Institute. March 18, 2016. https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2016/03/new-clarity-us-abortion-debate-steep-drop-unintended-pregnancy-driving-recent-abortion
  10. Giorgio, Margaret, Fredrick Makumbi, Simon Peter Sebina Kibira, Suzanne Bell, Selena Anjur-Dietrich, and Elizabeth Sully. 2020. “Investigating the early impact of the Trump Administration’s Global Gag Rule on sexual and reproductive health service delivery in Uganda.” PLoS ONE 15 (4): e0231960. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231960
  11. Global Justice Center. 2018. “FAQ: How US Abortion Restrictions on Foreign Assistance, including the Global Gag Rule, Violate Women’s Rights & Human Rights.” January 2018. https://globaljusticecenter.net/files/FAQAbortionRestrictions.pdf
  12. Habumuremyi, Perre Damien, and Meles Zenawi. 2012. “Making family planning a national development priority.” The Lancet 380 (9837): 78-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60904-0
  13. International Women’s Health Coalition. 2018. “Reality Check: Year One Impact of Trump’s Global Gag Rule.” Accessed February 2021. https://iwhc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/GGR-Formatted-Report_FINAL.pdf
  14. International Planned Parenthood Federation. 2017. “The Human Cost of the Global Gag Rule.” February 9, 2017. https://www.ippf.org/news/human-cost-global-gag-rule
  15. Jones, Kelly M. 2011. “Evaluating the Mexico city policy: How US foreign policy affects fertility outcomes and child health in Ghana.” International Food Policy Research Institute. https://www.ifpri.org/publication/evaluating-mexico-city-policy
  16. Jones, Kelly M. 2015. “Contraceptive Supply and Fertility Outcomes: Evidence from Ghana.” Economic Development Cultural Change 64 (1): 31-69. https://doi.org/10.1086/682981
  17. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2020. “The Mexico City Policy: An Explainer.” November 4, 2020.
  18. https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/mexico-city-policy-explainer/
  19. Kmietowicz, Zosia. 2019. “Abortion: US ‘global gag rule’ is killing women and girls, report says.” BMJ 365: I4118.https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l4118
  20. Marie Stopes International. n.d. “A World Without Choice: The Global Gag Rule.” Accessed November 2020. https://www.mariestopes-us.org/mexico-city-policy/
  21. Munzur-E-Murshid and Mainul Haque. 2020. “The Global Gag Rule: The death trap for comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare and way to overcome the US gag rule.” Journal of Population Therapeutics & Clinical Pharmacology 27 (2). https://jptcp.com/index.php/jptcp/article/view/677
  22. National Women’s Law Center. n.d. “Reproductive Justice.” Accessed November 2020. https://nwlc.org/issue/reproductive-justice/
  23. Open Society Foundations. 2019. “What is the Global Gag Rule?” April 2019. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/explainers/what-global-gag-rule#:~:text=The%20global%20gag%20rule%20prohibits,own%2C%20non%2DU.S.%20funds.
  24. Planned Parenthood Global. n.d. “Assessing the Global Gag Rule: Harms to Health, Communities, and Advocacy.” Accessed November 2020. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/uploads/filer_public/81/9d/819d9000-5350-4ea3-b699-1f12d59ec67f/181231-ggr-d09.pdf
  25. Schaff, Marta, Emily Maistrellis, Hana Thomas, Bergen Cooper, and The GGR Research Working Group. 2019. “‘Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance’? Towards a framework for assessing the health systems impact of the expanded Global Gag Rule.” BMJ Global Health 4 (5): e001786. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001786
  26. Shaw, Dorothy and Anibal Faúndes. 2006. “What is the relevance of women’s sexual and reproductive rights to the practicing obstetrician/gyneacologist?” Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology 20 (3): 299-309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2006.01.013
  27. Singh, Jerome A and Salim S. Abdool Karim. 2017. “Trump’s ‘global gag rule’: implications for human rights and global health.” The Lancet: Global Health 5 (4): E387-E389. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30084-0
  28. Starbird, Ellen, Maureen Norton, and Rachel Marcus. “Investing in Family Planning: Key to Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.” Global Health: Science and Practice 4 (2): 191-210. https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00374
  29. Starrs, Ann. 2017. “The Trump global gag rule: an attack on US family planning and global health aid.” The Lancet 389 (10068): 485-486. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30270-2
  30. Tanyag, Maria. 2017. “Global Gag Rule and the Political Economy of Sexual and Reproductive Freedoms.” Australian Institute of International Affairs. March 27, 2017. https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/news-item/global-gag-rule-and-the-political-economy-of-sexual-and-reproductive-freedoms/#_ftn3
  31. The Foundation for AIDS Research. 2019. “The Effect of the Expanded Mexico City Policy on HIV/AIDS Programming: Evidence from the PEPFAR Implementing Partners Survey.” Accessed November 2020. https://www.amfar.org/uploadedFiles/_amfarorg/Articles/On_The_Hill/2019/IB-1-31-19a.pdf
  32. The Guttmacher Institute. 2009. “Obama Rescinds ‘Global Gag Rule’, Commits to Funding UNFPA.” January 23, 2009. https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2009/01/obama-rescinds-global-gag-rule-commits-funding-unfpa
  33. The White House. 2017. “Presidential Memorandum Regarding the Mexico City Policy.” Presidential Memoranda: Law & Justice. January 23, 2017. https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-memorandum-regarding-mexico-city-policy/
  34. Office of the Press Secretary. 2009. “Statement of President Barack Obama on Rescinding the Mexico City Policy.” The White House. January 23, 2009. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-barack-obama-rescinding-mexico-city-policy
  35. Tsui, Amy O., Raegan McDonald-Mosley, and Anne E. Burke. 2010. “Family Planning and the Burden of Unintended Pregnancies.” Epidemiologic Reviews 31 (1): 152-174. https://doi.org/10.1093/epirev/mxq012
  36. U.S. Government Accountability Office. 2020. “Global Health Assistance: Awardees’ Declination of U.S. Planned Funding Due to Abortion-Related Restrictions.” GAO. March 2020. https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/705388.pdf
  37. Ushie, Boniface Ayanbekongshie, Kenneth Juma, Grace Kimemia, Maggie Magee, Emily Maistrellis, Terry McGovern, and Sara E. Casey. 2020. “Foreign assistance or attack? Impact of the expanded Global Gag Rule on sexual and reproductive health and rights in Kenya.” Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters 28 (3). https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2020.1794412
  38. World Health Organization. 2019. “High rates of unintended pregnancies linked to gaps in family planning services: New WHO study.” October 25, 2019. https://www.who.int/news/item/25-10-2019-high-rates-of-unintended-pregnancies-linked-to-gaps-in-family-planning-services-new-who-study
Roshni Varma is an undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is dedicated to improving health equity on a global scale by pursuing research at the intersection of healthcare and public policy. Roshni is also involved in legislative and clinical efforts to achieve the same goal.
DISCLAIMER: The findings and conclusions published herein are solely attributed to the author and not necessarily endorsed or adopted by the Journal of Science Policy and Governance. Articles are distributed in compliance with copyright and trademark agreements.

ISSN 2372-2193
© 2022 Journal of Science Policy & Governance, Inc. All rights reserved. The opinions, findings and conclusions from JSPG publications and events do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal.