We join together as diverse voices from a variety of sectors to oppose the harmful global gag rule, also known as the Mexico City Policy. While the Helms Amendment restricts U.S. foreign assistance funding for abortions “as a method of family planning,” the global gag rule goes a step further by blocking aid to foreign organizations who use their own non-U.S. funds to provide information, referrals, or services for legal abortion or to advocate for access to abortion services in their own country.
The global gag rule causes serious harm in countries around the world. The policy interferes with the doctor-patient relationship by restricting medical information healthcare providers may offer, limits free speech by prohibiting local citizens from participating in public policy debates, and impedes women’s access to family planning by cutting off funding for many of the most experienced health care providers who chose to prioritize quality reproductive-health services and counseling over funding that restricts care
and censors information.
When in place, the negative impacts of the global gag rule have been broad and severe: health services have been dismantled in a number of communities; clinics that provided a range of reproductive, maternal, and child health care, including HIV testing and counseling, were forced to close; outreach efforts to hard to reach populations were eliminated; and access to contraceptives was severely limited, resulting in more unintended pregnancies and more unsafe abortions. Here is the testimony of one
organization that experienced the impact of the global gag rule:
After refusing the terms of the gag rule in 2001, at Family Health Options Kenya we lost a significant amount of funding from USAID with serious and damaging effects on our ability to provide crucial reproductive health and family planning services. We were forced to close six clinics, all of which provided critical services to poor and underserved populations in urban, periurban and rural areas including family planning, voluntary counseling and testing for HIV, management of sexually transmitted infections, post-abortion care and maternal and child health services. Following the closure of these clinics in 2005, at least 9,000 people – primarily women and children – were left with little or no access to health care.
– Family Health Options Kenya (FHOK), 2013
Countries around the world are making significant progress in improving women’s health and the global gag rule undermines that momentum. Developing and donor countries alike are stepping up to prioritize and make tangible headway in closing the gap on access to modern family planning through increased funding and better policies. This momentum, which includes global partnerships like Family Planning 2020, builds on the essential foundation of U.S. investments in this sector. The global gag rule seriously hinders the effectiveness of U.S. global health investments and the growing global progress that we, as a global community, have made in expanding access to family planning for couples worldwide and in reducing maternal mortality.
The U.S. has been a leader when it comes to promoting democracy, women’s health, and human rights around the world. U.S. foreign aid should never be used as a tool to limit women’s access to health care or to censor free speech. Organizations should not be disqualified from receiving U.S. assistance because they use their own funds to provide health services and information that are legal in their home country and legal in the U.S. Supporters of global health and development, women’s rights, gender equality, and free speech oppose the harmful global gag rule and reject efforts to undermine the health and rights of women around the world.
Endorsing Organizations:
- 30 for 30 Campaign
- Advocates for Youth
- AFL-CIO
- AIDS Foundation of Chicago
- AIDS United
- ACT UP NY
- Alliance to End Slavery & Trafficking
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American Association of University Women (AAUW)
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American College of Nurse-Midwives
- American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- American Federation of Teachers
- American Humanist Association
- American Jewish World Service
- American Medical Student Association
- Americans United for Separation of Church and State
- amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research)
- Amnesty International USA
- Amref Health Africa
- Anti-Defamation League
- Association of Reproductive Health Professionals
- AVAC
- Black Women's Health Imperative
- Breakthrough
- carafem
- CARE USA
- Catholics for Choice
- Center for Biological Diversity
- Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)
- Center for Inquiry
- Center for Reproductive Rights
- Center for Women Policy Studies
- Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS
- Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)
- Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
- Concerned Clergy for Choice
- Consortium of Universities for Global Health
- Council for Global Equality
- CREDO
- Disciple Public Witness; Disciples of Christ
- Disciples for Choice
- Disciples Justice Action Network
- DKT International
- Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
- End Rape on Campus
- EngenderHealth
- Everywoman Everywhere
- Feminist Majority
- First Unitarian Church of Dallas
- First Unitarian Church of Portland
- Foreign Policy for America
- FP2020
- Freedom From Religion Foundation
- Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA)
- Global Doctors for Choice
- Global Health Council
- Global Initiatives for Human Rights (GIHR)
- Global Justice Clinic, NYU School of Law
- Global Justice Institute, Metropolitan Community Churches
- Global Progressive Hub
- Guttmacher Institute
- Gynuity Health Projects
- Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc.
- Health GAP
- Healthy Teen Network
- HIV Medicine Association
- Human Rights Campaign
- Human Rights Watch
- Ibis Reproductive Health
- If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice
- In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda
- Ipas
- Institute for Science and Human Values
- International Center for Research on Women
- International Medical Corps
- International Planned Parenthood Federation
- International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region
- International Women’s Convocation
- International Women's Health Coalition
- International Youth Alliance for Family Planning
- IntraHealth International
- John Snow, Inc.
- JWI
- Lutheran Women's Caucus
- LWC Policy Consulting Inc.
- MADRE: Demanding Rights, Resources & Results for Women Worldwide
- Management Sciences for Health
- Marie Stopes International-US
- Medical Students for Choice
- Methodist Federation for Social Action
- Muslims for Progressive Values
- NARAL Pro-Choice America
- NASTAD (National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors)
- National Abortion Federation
- National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF)
- National Center for Lesbian Rights
- National Center for Transgender Equality
- National Council of Jewish Women
- National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association
- National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
- National LGBTQ Task Force
- National Network of Abortion Funds
- National Organization for Women
- National Partnership for Women & Families
- National Women’s Health Network
- National Women's Law Center
- New Voices for Reproductive Justice
- Norwegian Refugee Council USA
- Outright Action International
- PAI
- Partners for Development
- PATH
- Pathfinder International
- People For The American Way
- Physicians for Reproductive Health
- Plan International USA
- Planned Parenthood Clergy Advocacy Board
- Planned Parenthood Federation of America
- Population Connection Action Fund
- Population Council
- Population Institute
- Population Media Center
- Population Reference Bureau
- Positive Women's Network - USA
- PSI
- Public Health Institute
- Refugees International
- Religious Institute
- Reproaction
- Reproductive Health Technologies Project
- Save the Children
- Secular Coalition for America
- Secular Student Alliance
- Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS)
- Sierra Club
- SisterLove, Inc.
- SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
- Society for Humanistic Judaism
- Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
- Student Global AIDS Campaign
- The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF)
- The Hunger Project
- The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
- Transgender Law Center
- Treatment Action Group
- UltraViolet
- Union for Reform Judaism
- Unitarian Universalist Association
- Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation
- United Methodist General Board of Church & Society
- United We Dream
- URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity
- UU Humanist Association
- Voices for Progress
- WaterAid
- White Ribbon Alliance
- Whitman Walker Health
- WIN (Women's Information Network)
- Women at the Center
- Women's Law Project
- Woman Care Global
- Women Deliver
- Women of Reform Judaism
- Women's Refugee Commission
- Women’s Research & Education Institute
- Woodhull Freedom Foundation
- Young Professionals Chronic Disease Network
- YWCA USA