Just two days after millions of women marched in protest of the Trump administration, President Trump reinstated the so-called global gag rule. The rule, dubbed the Mexico City Policy, requires that groups that receive funding for family planning programs must not discuss abortion.
The policy change is likely to increase the worldwide abortion rate, and could cost thousands of women their lives.
Trump’s Draconian New Anti-Abortion Gag Rule
The new anti-abortion policy greatly expands the policy that had been in place under every Republican administration since Reagan. Previous incarnations of the policy prohibited discussion of abortion when an organization received funding from USAID or the State Department. The new rule expands the policy to cover all groups receiving funding from any US department or agency.
This expansive change is already confusing NGOs that offer education about HIV/AIDS, child and maternal nutrition, and infectious diseases. Some organizations will have to either lie to those they serve, or abandon core components of their programs.
How the Mexico City Policy Increases Abortions
Republicans have long given lip service to anti-abortion principles, while supporting measures that actually increase the abortion rate. The Mexico City Policy is no different.
Research consistently shows that anti-abortion policies harm women and girls. The Mexico City Policy and those like it may also increase the abortion rate by forcing NGOs and the clinics they fund to abandon women.
One study found that the Mexico City Policy closed clinics in Ghana. The rate of unintended pregnancies skyrocketed, with 20 percent of those pregnancies ending in abortion. Another found a clear link between the policy and abortion increases in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Republicans: Only Paying Lip Service to Anti-Abortion Principles
Research consistently shows that two policies can lower abortion rates: free and low-cost contraceptives and accurate, comprehensive sex education. Republicans consistently oppose these measures, and their attempts at rolling back Obamacare will reduce access to birth control for millions of women.
The Mexico City Policy may impede women’s access to contraceptives and basic sex education, since organizations providing such services also tend to provide information about abortion. But that’s exactly the point. The goal of the policy isn’t really to end abortion. It’s to control women—at home and abroad.