The Impact of President Trump ’s ‘Global Gag Rule’ on Women’s Health is Becoming Clear

It has now been a little more than a year since President Donald Trump, on his first full day in office, reinstated the Mexico City Policy, also known as the “Global Gag Rule,” and a picture of its impact is beginning to emerge. The law prohibits allocation of U.S. funding to foreign non-governmental organizations that offer abortion services or information about the procedure. While the measure has been on and off the books for decades, typically enacted by Republican administrations and repealed by Democrats, its scope has expanded under Trump, which healthcare workers say has had a big impact on communities and care providers around the world. In just one year, health care workers say the policy has had disastrous effect; as expected, clinics are shutting down, unsafe abortions are predicted to rise sharply and families are losing critical services across the globe. While no death count has been directly linked to the policy, providers do have estimates of how many life-saving procedures could have been offered by the funding they are now denied, and the numbers are in some cases staggering. What is the ‘Global Gag Rule’? The Mexico City Policy, first enacted in 1984, prohibits U.S. federal funding to NGOs that provide abortion counseling, services or referrals, and any that advocate for decriminalization, even if those activities are wholly detached from U.S. funds. It requires foreign NGOs to pledge that they will not perform or inform patients a...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized abortion Donald Trump health onetime overnight Source Type: news